


Chipped Rocks and Wilted Flowers

by wherenonagoes



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, France (Country), Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-29
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-06 21:05:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 66,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/740154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherenonagoes/pseuds/wherenonagoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean travel to France over the summer with their parents, and there they meet Castiel and Jessica, and the rest of the summer is filled with their many adventures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This want planned all the way through to be this long, but I'm thankful for all the people that helped me and told me I was doing well, like Joni and Anja who are th absolute best. Thank you so much for being a part of this even if I forgot to mention you here.

Summer vacation was always what the two Winchester boys looked forward to most. It meant long nights staying up with one another, talking, or not, about anything. It also meant long camping trips and visits to Uncle Bobby’s house in South Dakota every now and then, sometimes by themselves, or with their parents.

As soon as the two came home on the last day of school, a stifling hot day in the middle of June, they were ready to camp out somewhere cool, to get away from all the stresses of home and society.

The older brother, Dean, parked in the driveway, sighing, and smiling, as he looked at the house, and glanced over to his little brother. The two would both be in highschool next year; Sam would be a freshmen, and Dean would be a senior.

“Come on, Sammy. The sooner we get packed and ready the sooner we can get out of here and into a creek to cool off,” he rubbed his brother hair as he said that. Sam just pushed his arm away, a smile on his face.

“Yeah, okay, I know. We just gotta wait for dad to be home to tell him, right?”

“You know it.” With that, the two brothers exited the behemoth of a car, and walked towards the house.

The house was devoid of movement except the kitchen, where a radio was playing some soft rock, and Mary Winchester was getting things ready for dinner. Dean walked in, and promptly gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, mom. Me and Sam were thinking of leaving to go camping tomorrow, is that alright?” He placed his backpack on the kitchen table, stretching his arms out as he waited for a reply. Mary all the while had paused, turning around as she dusted her hands off on her apron.

“Honey, we’re leaving on tomorrow.”

Dean chuckled, “Where we goin’ mom?”

“We’re going to France.” Dean almost lost it there.

“You mean.. The country? Like, the country over in Europe?” Mary nodded, sitting down on the corner of the table.

“John and I were going to tell you earlier, but we weren’t sure. Bobby called yesterday, and he said that his house over there should be available, since he didn’t rent it out over summer.”

“So we’re really going over there? Please, please tell me you booked a boat.” Dean closed his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest as he took a deep breath and exhaled.

“No, we’re flying, dear.” Dean cursed under his breath, sighing before opening his eyes again and running a hand through his hair.

“Well, I’ll go tell Sammy.”

“Thank you Dean.” Mary kissed him on the cheek, then gave him a hug, rubbing his back while she did.

Dean took his things upstairs to his room first, placing his bag on his bed and tossing his phone onto his pillow. Next he walked across the hall, and knocked on his brothers door, opening it soon after he heard the muffled noise of approval. Sam was lying on his stomach, facing the window in his room with a book in his hands. Probably the one he’d just gotten from his friend Andy the other day.

“Hey, Sam. Uh, so we can’t go camping.” He leant against the door frame, his hands in his pockets as he watched for his brother’s reaction.

“Did dad say that? Is he home?” Sam had put his bookmark in its place and was sitting up now, a frown on his face.

“No. He isn’t home. Mom told me that we couldn’t go, because we’re going to France tomorrow.” Sam blinked, looking at Dean a bit baffled.

“What?”

“You heard me,” Dean gestured a bit with his hand, glancing towards the ground before returning his gaze to his brother, “We’re going to France.” Sam smiled and punched his fist into the air.

“Why’re you so happy?” Dean crossed his arms over his chest, genuinely confused as to why his little brother would be happy about such a thing when they had been planning to go camping, something both of them thoroughly enjoyed.

“Dean, I’m taking French next year! I already have some booklets and packets to help me study so I can be prepared, and being in France for however long can help me!”

“Wow, you’re super excited about this, aren’t you?”

Sam rolled his eyes, “You could be excited too. Foreign chicks, Dean.” Dean thought about it, then nodded his head, chuckling a bit as his little brother left his room, Dean following after.

They both helped with dinner, and soon enough, their father was home from work. They sat down at the table, Mary said grace, and they began to eat. They ate in silence for the most part, their dinner something all of them enjoyed eating; steak and mashed potatoes were a delicacy, and with peas it was almost heaven.

“So, your mom told you we’re leaving tomorrow, right?” Dean nodded his head, and he and Sam both replied, “Yes, sir.” John nodded, forking another steak onto his plate and taking a sip of his beer. “And you’re to pack and help clean tonight, understood?”

“Yes, sir.” Came the reply again. With that, the conversation switched from what had to be finished, and what they would need to pack, since it had been discussed they were going to be gone the whole of summer.

After dishes were done, and Sam and Dean had finished getting most of their clean clothes into suitcases, they traveled up to the older brother’s room. Dean was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling with his arms behind his head, and Sam was sitting in the chair to his desk, a book in his hands.

“So we’re really going... and it’s supposed to be close to the ocean too,” Dean sighed, and closed his eyes.

“You never know what could happen. Think of all the different kind of people we could meet there, and all the different things we could see. Mom and Dad said that Paris was gonna happen, we’re actually going to see the Eiffel Tower!” Sam was excited, that much was for sure, and Dean was happy to see him like that. He turned over, looking at his little brother as he turned pages.

“Yeah, and maybe you can pick up a girlfriend there,” he snickered, swatting away a dirty shirt Sam tossed at him. “You wouldn’t even be able to pick up a guy there, jerk.”

“Would too, bitch.” They smiled and soon enough both were heading to bed. They had a big day tomorrow, and it was going to be a long weekend.


	2. Greetings

Castiel finally reached his home after his regular hour of biking from his school. The house was still set in the sun, and he couldn’t help but smile as he could smell what was being made for dinner. He could hear the clatter of pots and pans, and the sound of something crashing onto the floor to break, and it was followed by incessant cursing, which told Castiel that Anna was making dinner. “Je suis à la maison!”

"Castiel! I don't have time for French, get your ass in here and help with dinner!" Anna was yelling from the kitchen, which only made Castiel chuckle as he put his bike on the porch, taking his shoes off and placing his bag next to the door.

"I'll be right there, Anna." Rolling up his sleeves, Castiel walked into the kitchen to see Anna making some sort of pasta.

"What're you making?"

"I'm making ravioli. Since I didn't have to go and tutor today, I thought I could try something different. It didn't work out." Castiel sighed, taking his place next to her to help clean things up as she put the rest of the pasta that had lived into the boiling pot of water.

"Where's Balthazar?"

"Bastard said he needed to meet up with some friends, so he's probably having a fag out with Rachel. You know how he is." Castiel smiled, he did know his older brother to be like that.

"So how was your day?" They both started to prepare the salads, getting the lettuce and tomatoes, Castiel chopping them up small enough to not be a whole bite by themselves.

"It was fine, but I still wish we'd stayed in England. Their schooling isn't so weird."

"Don’t start acting like Balthazar, Cas. You’ve practically only gone to schools in France." Castiel chuckled, avoiding a splash of water from his sister, then putting the tomatoes into a strainer, running cold water over them before setting them down on the counter.

He was about to say something else when he heard the door open, and he turned to see his friend standing there, almost out of breath. "Castiel! Nous avons de nouveaux voisins!"

"Really? Do you know who?"

"No! My parents, they have just told me they came in today, and they’re staying for the summer!" Castiel blinked, wiping his hands on his jeans.

"Summer vacation isn't for another two weeks, though." Jessica, the girl who lived two lots down from them, rolled her eyes.

"Not for the Americans! They've just gotten out not a week ago!" Castiel looked towards Anna, who was leaning against the counter, her arms crossed over her chest, a smirk on her face.

"What're we going to do? Should we make something for them?" Jessica smiled.

"I'm making some cookies and other baked goods in a basket, you should bring them some mayflowers and flax, and we'll stop by tomorrow before lunch." Castiel nodded, it sounded like a good idea, and it wasn't like they could just ignore new neighbors when the last resident had just smoked all the time.

"I'll cut some fresh ones in the morning, and stop by the store to get a new vase for them. Meet me in front of the property ten to twelve okay?"

"Okay! À demain!" Jessica came forward to meet Castiel, giving their Faire la bise before she was out of the door.

Cas smiled as he watched the door close after her, turning to see Anna. "I didn't know Singer had been renting the property out." Rolling his eyes, Castiel just walked back towards the counter, starting to lean up while they waited for the noodles to cook.

Balthazar came home around an hour after they'd eaten, and complained about them not saving any for him. "Balth, it's what you get. You probably ate out with Rachel anyways," Anna was sitting on the couch, the tv on as she watched her american soap opera.

"So? What if I didn't eat a lot? You know how small the portions are here compared to England." Castiel groaned, closing his book after placing the bookmark within it.

"Balthazar, you should be used to the serving sizes by now. It's been how many years since we moved here? Ten?" Anna nodded her head, smiling as she took a sip of her wine from the glass in her hand.

Balthazar just grumbled in defeat, walking back into the kitchen, the sound of the refrigerator door opening coming soon after. Castiel sighed, running his hand through his hair before looking over to his sister. "I should head to bed. I have to ride to town in the morning."

"Why don't you just use a vase we already have, Cas? You have enough in that gardening shed of yours for the whole country to have three." Shrugging his shoulders, he stood up and stretched, patting Anna on the head before leaving the room. He was getting a new vase so it would look fresh, because you couldn't just give them a used vase, it seemed impolite.

Once upstairs, Castiel headed first to the bathroom, brushing and flossing his teeth, looking in the mirror to make sure he got everything before he rinsed. He'd need to take a shower before he went over to the house, his dark brown hair seemed all but glued to his head, and he smelled horrid too. It could be put off till then though, so Castiel left the bathroom and padded down the hallway, towards the room at the end.

His room happened to be the biggest of the siblings, mostly because Anna and Balthazar didn't always come home, and so he was the one that needed it most. The walls were a pale beige, and the bed was a light blue, something that would match the sky on any particularly beautiful day. The curtains were a floral print, and the window was looking out over the immense amount of land their family owned, and more importantly, his flower garden.

He grew every flower that caught his eye, and he took care of them better than any regular gardener could. He sat in the window seat, looking over them and how the setting sun seemed to ripen their beauty. Once gone, he closed his curtains and changed into his pajamas once his book was put away in his school bag. That night would be one of dreams and fantasy.

The next morning wasn't filled with any of that. Castiel had forgotten to set his alarm, so when he woke, the sun was well up, and his clock read half past ten. That was not enough time to go and buy a vase. He scrambled around, hurrying outside to make sure his flowers were fresh and ready to go, in a vase, newly cleaned not entirely new, and on his desk. Next was his shower, and he made sure to clean his hair with the shampoo Anna had said to only use for special occasions, but Castiel didn't care. New neighbors, even for only a few months, were exciting.

Once clean, he was in his room, checking his closet to make sure his outfit would be perfect. He couldn't find many things, so he stuck with slacks and a button up shirt and sweater vest. He couldn't go wrong there. Castiel brushed his hair, but it didn't seem to do much good, since it had dried weird while he'd dressed, so he gave up and headed downstairs, the vase in his hands.

No one else seemed to be in the house, and Castiel found a note on the refrigerator. 'Balth and I went to Paris today to pick out Mom's present, we'll keep you updated. - Anna' Castiel sighed, folding the small piece of paper and putting it into his pocket before opening the door to see what he could possibly eat for breakfast. It ended up being an omelette sort of day, so twenty minutes later, and at half past eleven, Castiel was finished with breakfast, and probably his lunch, and was setting off.

The vase was in his bike's basket, and he made sure to hold it with one hand the entire way, so the water wouldn't spill out and so the vase wouldn't fly out somewhere else. The wind felt nice on his face, but it made his nose itch as he rode down the road. It was almost eleven by the time he had made it to their new neighbor's house, and he could spot Jessica looking at her watch as she waited for him.

"Jessica! Salut!" Again the Faire la bise, and Castiel patted Jessica on the shoulder, she was only fourteen, and still so kind, it made him happy they could find a similar aspect of themselves to share.

"We'd better get up there and introduce ourselves." Jessica nodded, pushing her blonde hair behind her ear before starting down the path towards the house.

The house happened to be bigger than the two houses next to it, but it didn't seem any more spectacular. It was two stories, and if Castiel was right, there was even a basement and an attic. It was a pale olive green on the outside, not something you usually saw around there, but it was nice all the same with the large tree shading most of the front porch. Jessica stood up there first, taking the small knocker and pressing it to the door three times before stepping back, clutching the basket to her chest as she stole a glance at Castiel. "It'll be fine, Jessica. Soyez calme, tout ira bien." She nodded and just clutched the basket harder to her chest.

The door opened only a moment after they had knocked, and a woman had opened it, looking very tired. "Bonjour! Welcome to France!" The woman's eyes widened, and she pushed her blonde hair behind her back, smiling sweetly at both of them.

"Hello, you must be the ones that live next door. I'm Mary, please come inside." She stood aside and opened the door wider for them. Jessica entered first, and then Castiel, who closed the door behind them as Mary moved forward.

"These flowers are simply gorgeous, where you were able to get those, I'll never know. Thank you for these, but I don't think I ever caught your name," Mary smiled at Castiel, taking the vase and placing it on the counter next to the door.

"Je m'appelle Castiel Milton." He smiled right back, feeling how she seemed to exude safety and love.

"Je m'appelle Jessica Moore. You can call me Jess though," she smiled and handed Mary the basket of goodies. Mary smelled the basket then removed one of the napkins covering it to reveal cookies and brownies and small cakes.

"Well, you two are the most hospitable kids I've ever met. Please, come into the kitchen, we can have some of these." Mary gestured towards a room not too far away, and the two followed closely, not wanting to seem rude or wandering.

As soon as they entered the kitchen though, Mary grew very angry. "Boys! I thought I told you to wait till lunch!" Castiel looked around the woman to see two boys, one roughly his age, and one around Jessica's.

"Mom, time difference. We only got here around eight hours ago. I need to eat," the older one seemed more determined on keeping his food.

"Well, fine. Don't tell John though, and I've got some baked goods here. You can have one now."

Mary placed the basket on the table, and the two boys moved closer to inspect it. Castiel and Jessica stood back, watching the family talk over them until Mary motioned for them to join them at the table. "Castiel, Jessica, these are my sons, Sam and Dean," she gestured to each, Sam with the longer hair, and younger, and Dean with the shorter hair and older. "Sam, Dean, this is Castiel and Jessica, they're our neighbors until August," Mary just seemed so delighted to see them all meeting that Castiel felt a little bit awkward. All he'd done was cut some flowers and give them to her, he hadn't asked to be formally introduced to the family. Though to say he wasn’t enjoying it would be a lie. "You two can have one as well, I'd better wake up your father, or he'll never be able to sleep tonight.” With that, Mary patted her boys on the head, and Castiel and Jessica on the shoulder before leaving them all there staring at one another.

"Well, do you only speak French?" Was the first question Dean asked them. Castiel almost gave a very rude remark, but he decided against it.

"No, I speak English much better actually, and Jess too," He nodded towards her, but she seemed to be enthralled with the younger brother, who seemed to be staring at the desserts, his hands under the table.

"Cool, so that means we can hang out, and you could teach me French things, right? Because I need to pick someone up before we leave in , how many months Sammy?"

"Three, Dean. It's not that hard to remember."

"Whatever, Sam. So, you know any chicks around here?" Dean was leaning over the table now, his elbow in front of him as he looked at Castiel.

Castiel just blinked, looking at the boy in front of him, wondering what exactly he was supposed to answer. He decided not to, and just looked back at Dean. He noticed that his hair was really darker than it appeared, and that there seemed to be a sprinkle of freckles over his nose and cheeks. His eyes were actually green, and he was the most beautiful person Castiel had ever seen in his life.

"No." Was his answer finally, and Dean just rolled his eyes, leaning back into his chair.

"See, I don't know why we came here when there aren't even any girls around here." Dean sighed, and Castiel found himself growing a little angry at how he was acting.

"Jessica, je n’aime pas comment il me parle." Jessica looked over to Cas, then to Dean before sighing.

"Bien, nous pouvons partir alors." Jessica got up, and Castiel looked between the brothers. The younger seemed a bit sad at their going, but the older brother was just nodding off, his chin finally resting off on his chest. "Adieu," Castiel and Jess said at the same time, showing themselves out of the nice house and towards the path in front of it.

"It's a shame," Castiel whispered as they walked down the the main road.

"What is?"

"That such a good looking person can be so.. irritating. That’s the only thing I felt about them. Sam seemed nice though.” He could see Jessica’s cheeks reddening as she turned her face to the ground.

“He does.” At that they reached the main road, and Castiel kissed her on the head before taking his bike and riding towards his own home.

The air around him was nice, even if a bit warm, so he tried his best to enjoy it before he needed to work on the homework due the next Monday. That didn’t mean he tried hard to get home so fast though, his mind was still on the older brother, Dean. He couldn’t help but think of how beautiful he was, and he hoped that his first impression was wrong. Castiel didn’t want to have a neighbor he couldn’t stand, it would make for a rather boring summer.

 

* * *

 

Sam punched Dean in the shoulder as soon as Castiel and Jessica had left. “What the hell, Sam?”

“That was rude, Dean. Why’d you have to scare them off like that?” Dean shrugged his shoulders, leaning back into his chair, his eyes wandering towards where he knew the front door would be. Yeah, he knew he’d been mean, but he was dead tired after not being able to sleep in the too plush beds, you couldn’t  blame him for being uncomfortable in a foreign country.

“I’m tired, Sam. I’m gonna go take a nap before lunch,” and with that, Dean stood from his chair, not having touched the baked goods, and pushed it in. Sam watched as he left the room and headed upstairs to his room.

His room seemed too frilly, but he couldn’t care, it wasn’t his to complain about, so he just shut his door and walked over to the window. Dean couldn’t see the other houses from his, but it meant they were far away enough that nothing would go over. No sound or shout would travel to them. Shutting the curtains, he looked back to his bed, which happened to be a lot bigger than the one he had a home, and a lot poofier. It had a thick yellow comforter on it, and the sheets and other bed casings were the same pale yellow. He’d never slept in a bed that made him feel like it was Easter every day.

Dean laid down nonetheless, staring at the ceiling until he could finally drift off to catch up on sleep. It didn’t last long though, maybe a half hour, when his mother opened the door to his room, almost slamming it against the wall. “Dean Winchester!” The boy in question started from his bed, his head ringing from a dream he couldn’t remember, and the sound of the door almost cracking.

“What?” Mary stood in the doorway, her arms and face quite crossed.

“You were rude to our neighbors. I want you to go and apologize to Castiel right now. Sam has already left for Jessica’s.” Mary’s voice didn’t waver as she told him to do it, and he sighed, running a hand through his hair before turning towards the window. He opened the curtains to see it raining outside.

“In this?”

“In this, mister Winchester. Get some shoes on, and a coat, and go.” Mary left after that, closing the door gently and leaving him there to moan in protest. Dean got his socks on first, then looked through his two suitcases for a jacket that could possibly help shield him from the rain. Soon enough he was walking down the stairs towards the door, picking his shoes up on the way and putting them on.

Once outside, he wished he could sleep more, because it would be a long walk to Castiel’s house. What the hell kind of name was that anyways? It was seriously a mouthful, but Dean wouldn’t say anything about it when he saw him, he didn’t want to be rude and get in more trouble, though how his mom would know he had no idea.

Almost an hour, that was how long it took for Dean to get to the neighbors house. He wanted to know why the hell they lived so far away from everyone else, but then again it was nice to not be surrounded by other people and their filth in the larger cities. He walked up the path, opening the little gate that surrounded the house, and stepped onto the porch, sighing in relief as he wasn’t getting rained on anymore. Dean looked the porch over, he wanted to get somewhat dry before he knocked on any door. There were several watering cans being filled with rainwater right next to the porch, and there was a rocking chair in the corner next to the side of the house. Wind chimes were hanging from the front of the porch, making their soft noises as the wind blew them only a tiny amount.

It seemed weird, that was the only thing Dean knew what to think. He just shook his head, looking back towards the door before he stepped forward and knocked. It only took a few moments before the door opened to reveal the dark haired boy from before, and again, at first sight, he kind of took Dean’s breath away. He was good looking alright, but his hair was wet too, meaning it had probably started to rain while he got home. His eyes were, hidden, in a way Dean couldn’t read any emotion from them, but that didn’t stop him from seeing how blue they were. And hell, they were as blue as the sky on a sunny day.

“Oui? What do you want?” Dean sighed, putting his hands into his pockets and leaning back on his feet before returning his eyes to Castiel.

“I wanted to say I was sorry for how I acted early. I’m real tired and all, we just got in yesterday, and I haven’t been able to sleep well.” Castiel looked him over, and Dean felt a bit weird at that.

“Come in, and take your shoes off first, please.” Dean stopped short, what? He was being let in the house? That wasn’t supposed to happen, he was just supposed to apologize and return home, nothing else. But then again, was he going to refuse the offer of getting dry and sitting somewhere comfy? Hell no. So that was how Dean found himself in Castiel’s home, sitting in his living room, his hands rubbing over his legs, trying to get a bit warmer and a bit more dry.

Castiel had left the room as soon as Dean had sat down, and so that left him wondering to where the French boy had gone. He just waited though, he hadn’t been instructed or told that he could leave the room or anything else, and he didn’t want to be more rude than he had earlier. A few minutes later he returned with a glass jar filled with some purple flowers, and what seemed seeds at the bottom. Dean looked from the jar to Castiel, whose gaze was also on Dean. The jar was passed to him.

“Put these in your pillows, they should help you sleep. Make sure to be careful though, you don’t want to make a mess.” Dean looked at the contents of the jar again, shaking it around a bit before he sighed.

“What are they?”

“They’re Lavender flowers and seeds. They have a scent that aids sleep.” Dean nodded his head, though he was still a bit skeptic about putting flowers in his pillowcase.

“How do you know that?” He didn’t know if he was just checking to make sure he wasn’t killed when he was sleeping or if he was generally curious.

“I grow flowers, I know a lot about them. I have loads of books on how they can help you,” Castiel seemed tired, that’s what it was. Dean could see that now. With the way he was barely hunched over, to the dullness of his eyes and the light bruises beneath them.

“Do you use them?” Castiel nodded.

“I could show you how you should do it. Follow me,” Castiel then tapped Dean on the shoulder, and it seemed to release something within him. A sense of ease was all he could feel, and he followed Castiel up the stairs and into a bedroom that must have been his. It didn’t seem like a room he would have, but it was his, so it was nice. Castiel walked over to his bed, which seemed just a bit smaller than the one Dean had back home, and picked up the pillow case. “Come here, and look,” he motioned for Dean to move closer, and so he did, looking into the opening of his pillow.

“I have  second case over mine. That’s where I put the seeds and flowers, so it doesn’t make a mess all over my bed. I have another one I could give you. Une seconde,” Castiel left the pillow in Dean’s hand, and he was left there as Castiel left his room. He didn’t really understand what was going on anymore, but he just sighed. At least he’d made up with him, as that had been the goal. He didn’t have to wait long though, for Castiel came back into his room not a minute later with a thin pillow case that could be zipped on one side. “Here. It’s not been opened, so it should be clean. Just put it over your pillow before you go to bed, and don’t open the jar until then, so they can stay somewhat fresh, alright?” Dean nodded, handing him his pillow back to take the case. 

Dean was showed to the door again, and by then, Castiel was smiling. “Again, sorry about before, Cas. I was just tired.”

“Well, hopefully I’ve solved that problem. I hope you sleep well tonight, Dean. Salut.” Castiel gave one last smile before Dean was out the door, standing with the jar and pillow case in his hands. He decided to put the case in his jacket, so it didn’t have a chance of getting wet, and he just held the jar as he went back into the rain, which wasn’t so heavy now.

All along the way home, he thought about how Cas’s mood had been lifted just like that. It had to have meant he did something, and he wanted to do that more often, Cas seemed like a nice person to be around. Wait, when did he start thinking of him as Cas? He left that slide from his mind, and instead on how nice that had really been. At least his mom wouldn’t be mad anymore when he got home. He was good, he had nothing going against him now, except maybe Jessica, but Sam was taking care of her, so he should be fine.

When he could finally see his house, the rain had stopped completely, and he was holding his things with one arm, his wet jacket hanging on the other. He could see Sam walking back from the opposite direction, and he waved. Sam was holding something too. They met in front of the path to their temporary house. He seemed to be carrying another small basket filled with chocolate chip cookies. “So, how’d it go?” Sam asked, and Dean shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright. They guy gave me something to help me sleep.”

“That’s more than alright, Dean. That’s awesome. Maybe we can all be friends.”

“Yeah, maybe Sam. Wouldn’t that be something?” 


	3. Gardening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any errors, I had to do a quick read-through edit because I'm busy today. I'll change minor things later! Thank you for reading!

Sunday morning wasn't as much of a disaster as the last morning. Anna and Balthazar had gotten home quite late, after Cas had already been asleep, and so when he woke, he was the first. He made breakfast for all of them, some crepes were in order, and he made sure to cut some strawberries and bananas, as well as get the whipped cream out. It meant he was up and eating breakfast alone, the dining room table empty except for his small place that had been served only minutes before by himself.

Castiel was used to it, but it still felt weird to be sitting and eating alone when he still remembered eating dinner with his whole family in England every night. Though that was in the past, so he didn't dwell on it as he finished his cup of milk and his last crepe.

He walked into the kitchen with his dishes to see Anna there leaning against the counter with a plate. "These are fantastic, Cas." That was said around a mouthful of food, and Castiel only smiled before placing his dishes in the sink. "I'll get to those later, I'm going to go out tend the flowers. I'll come back in for lunch." Anna made a muffled sound of approval before he left through the door on the side of the kitchen leading outside.

The sun was well up by the time he had his all his tools and supplies out to tend the flowerbeds behind the house, and it meant he didn't have too long to make sure his flowers were healthy. Castiel got started right away, a small bucket by his side as he knelt in each flower bed, pulling the weeds out by the roots to keep them from choking all his hard work. It wasn't an easy task, as he had dozens of different flower beds, one for each type of flower he fancied to grow, each with the type of soil they would grow best in. They had no shortage of land or money, and he'd already planted everything he wanted, so it didn't cost much to care for them either, especially since he didn't hire a gardener.

The ground was damp from the rain the day before, so it made pulling the weeds and other atrocities that much easier to do. By the fourth bed though, he was wiping sweat from his brow, trying to cool down every so often by fanning himself with his gloves. He called it time to get something to drink, and to change into more appropriate clothes for gardening. A quick glass of water, and changing into shorts later, he donned a hat and headed back outside.

Anna and Balthazar often wondered why he even cared to take care of or grow flowers, and he always gave them the same answer, it made him feel important. It was up to him if they lived or died depending on if he took care of them, if he used the right soil, or if he took proper care depending on the type; they relied on him. It was a simple thing to want, and an easy thing to fill, especially with so many flowers. Though they still questioned the ridiculous amount of flowers he decided to grow. Castiel would tell them that he grew enough to where they all had meaning. That's how he chose the ones he did, by what they meant.

He grew roses, of course, red and white, as they meant lasting love, and he would give them to his family on birthdays, or close friends. He'd given Jessica a dozen roses for her birthday that year, though sadly his hadn't been in bloom, so he'd bought them from a store.

Next to the roses were the lilies, the white callas standing for majestic beauty. He had given those to Anna on her last birthday, and to his mother the last time he'd seen her. They didn't get handed out too often, so that flower bed was small.

The lavender was next, and that bed was only a bit bigger than the lilies, as he mostly just used them to help him with his sleeping. He had nightmares most nights, and so they aided him through that.

The flax and mayflowers were next to each other, and were equal size, both meaning for homecoming and welcome. The reason he'd given them to Mary the other day was to make her feel at home, and he hoped they had helped.

There were also chrysanthemums: red, white, and yellow. The red and yellow signifying love and sighted love. The white holding the meaning of truth. All were in abundance in their bed, and there were some of Castiel's favorite to look at.

Carnations were also plentiful in pink, red and white. He'd given his mother, or sent her, pink carnations every mother's day, as they denoted motherhood. The red and white flowers standing more for some type of love. Castiel loved flowers that stood for strong positive emotions, it was one of the reasons he had so many in his plethora of gardening beds.

He also had Azaleas, Forget-me-nots, Gloxinia, and Irises. There were more beds behind his shed that he'd built just the other summer, in order to hold everything he needed to care for his flowers. It contained more seeds should any of the plants die, and fertilizer should he need to use it, though the land around their house was so fertile he hardly ever needed it.

It took hours for him to finally reach the shed, pulling weeds and other small clovers out of the ground in the beds was no easy task, especially around the flowers that called for more rocky soil. He was leaning against the shed when he noticed someone walking down the path towards their house. He couldn't make out who it was, but he had an idea that it was one of the brothers. Castiel would just ignore them, he still had plenty of work ahead of him.

The lilacs and tulips were next, and he had yet to give those out, for their meanings would merit something more than the others. Something he had yet to really have in his life, a significant other. He had plenty of flowers and ideas of bouquets he could give them, but no one ever caught his fancy, so they had yet to be given out, instead just placed in vases around the house to look pretty, like most people assumed was their only purpose.

Last but not least, were the violets and the viscaria. Their beds were smallest, though he had cut one of the latter for someone once, when asking them to a school dance. They had said no, and told him his obsession with flowers wasn't healthy. That was the last time Castiel ever pursued anyone romantically.

As he finally came to weed and clean out the bed the violets were in though, he heard someone coughing behind him. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, and saw that it was Dean. He had pants and a t-shirt on, sneakers covering his feet as he stood on the path between the beds. "Salut.. Hello, Dean." "Hi, Cas." Castiel swallowed thickly, what was he to say? He didn't expect anyone to come out here, and he was nearly finished. "I'll be with you in just a moment," he smiled towards the American and hurriedly finished pulling the weeds and clovers out of the bed, tossing them in the same bucket with the rest.

Finally being finished, he stood up and walked back onto the path, taking his gloves off and wiping his brow, removing the sweat that had accumulated there. His hat was taken off too before he looked back at Dean. He seemed, different from the day before. "How did you sleep?" He remembered giving him the lavender in hopes that would make the boy more pleasing, and well, he seemed rather nicer now that he seemed rested.

"Amazing, actually. You must have put some kind of magic into those flowers for me." Castiel laughed lightly, shaking his head while he did. "No, it's just what lavender does. Other flowers have qualities too. I put some of the roses in jam. I made quite a lot last year and was able to sell all but a few jars." Dean didn't seem to believe him, and Castiel rolled his eyes, walking towards his shed. "I'll show you. There are many uses for flowers, but you have to grow them right and have the right kind of soil so they're healthy. It's quite a lot or work actually." "Then why do you do it? Surely you don't take care of all of them by yourself?" Castiel nodded his head, "I do. A gardener wouldn't.. he wouldn't be as good. I like growing things."

It was silent from then until they reached the house. He could hear Anna listening to music in her room, and Balthazar was in the living room. They stayed in the kitchen, and Cas put his hat on the hook by the door before moving towards the sink to wash his hands. "Would you prefer bread or crackers?" Castiel glanced over at Dean, who seemed to be looking around the kitchen as he leaned against counter. "Bread would be fine. I didn't have lunch yet." Castiel paused, looking at the clock on the wall. It read half past one. "I haven't eaten either. I'll make something for the both of us. Sit down over there," he pointed towards the small kitchen table that had three chairs around it.

Dean did as he was told, and Castiel smiled, moving to get the dishes he would need first. A plate for both of them, and then glasses as well. "Would you like some wine? Or are you not allowed?" He wasn't a fan of wine himself, but if Dean was okay with it, they had some quality bottles Anna had picked up just the other week. "Wine sounds fantastic." Castiel then opened a bottle, letting it air before he poured two glasses worth and left it by the sink. "Here you go, don't drink it too fast, though," after handing Dean his glass, and putting his at the empty seat across from him, he went back to find the jam in the cupboard. It was unopened, so he broke the seal and got two pieces of bread out from the container on the counter and spread it over them. "Would you like some cheese as well? We've got cubes of mozzarella." Dean nodded, and so Castiel brought the two plates over with the cheese and took his own seat.

They ate in silence, though Dean's eyes went wide at tasting the jam. "This is awesome, Cas. Wish I could make something so good." Heat immediately went to his face, Castiel wasn't used to getting compliments from people outside of his family. "Thank you, and it's quite easy, actually. Though I don't think any of the roses that are in bloom now would be any good. I had a large number growing last year, that's why I was able to make so much."  Dean nodded and made some sort of noise around the bread and cheese, his face fully stuffed.

They sat there as they finished, taking sips of their wine slowly, not talking about anything. "I should make my lunch for tomorrow," Castiel sighed, taking his and Dean's empty glass and putting them in the sink. "You going somewhere tomorrow?" "I have school." Dean looked absolutely stunned at that, as though he couldn't believe it. "What, really? That sucks, man." Castiel shrugged, getting a small paper bag from a cupboard close to the sink. "I have two more weeks. It's not that much longer." Dean thought about it, "I guess not, but we got out on Wednesday last week, and that was pretty late for us."

An apple and a banana went into Castiel's lunch, as well as a small bag of crackers and a chocolate bar. That was put into the refrigerator before he turned back to Dean, his arms crossed loosely over his chest. "This is a different country, we have different schooling and everything, Dean." "I know, I know. I'm just not use to it, that and the only French I've really heard was at the airport, and the dining room table yesterday." "You should go to Blain, it's not that far away. I'm sure your parents would love to take you." Dean sighed, nodding his head before moving to lean against the counter next to Cas, his hands behind him on the edge. "Yeah, but they also want us to learn some French before we go out anywhere. My mom's really set on us learning it."

Castiel couldn't help but laugh at that. "No language can be learned in a week, Dean. It took me a year or two to perfect it, and that's after living here. I'm still not as good as Anna, and can't pronounce everything right." Dean shrugged, crossing his arms as well, looking at Cas's face, his eyes darting to look at something else every second or so; Cas couldn't imagine what else there was to look at. "You seem pretty good though. I couldn't tell if you said anything wrong." "And you can't understand me, so you don't know if I'm insulting you or not." Dean narrowed his eyes just a fraction, "Were you insulting me?" Castiel bit his lip, his eyes moving to look at the corner where the ceiling met the wall. "Cas?" "No, I haven't, yet," he chuckled, pushing the hand Dean had placed on his shoulder off.

Dean seemed somewhat relieved at that, and Cas smiled at him. "You'd better get home, so your parents don't think you've gotten lost." "I told them I was over here." "But you've just met me." "And already I've slept better." Castiel huffed a bit through his nose, rolling his eyes just a small amount as he did. "Is that supposed to be a line?" When his eyes returned to Dean he looked slightly taut. "Are you okay?" Castiel went from irritated to worried in seconds, he hoped he hadn't said anything wrong. "I'm fine, uh. You know what, I should be getting home. I told my mom I'd be back by three, and it's a long walk back, so... uh, I'll see you later, Cas." Dean waved slightly and showed himself out, leaving Castiel in the kitchen, confused about what had just happened. It didn't matter though, because he couldn't fix what he didn't know anything about, so he just turned and began washing the dishes.

He could worry about how his new friend was acting when he didn't have chores or homework to do, so for now, he did what he needed to.

 

* * *

 

Dean did not want to think about what he’d just done. The only thing that would come to mind if he did was how he practically just hit on a guy he just met. Sure, he’d gotten over the fact that he might swing both ways ages ago, but he hadn’t actually had a boyfriend, and it wasn’t like Cas was going to be his first, not when he was leaving in three months. And he had just met him yesterday! That was wrong, especially after how nice he’d been to him, giving him something to help him sleep, making him lunch for christ’s sake. Dean just knew that he needed to be careful, he needed to not become attracted to someone he couldn’t have.

The walk home helped clear his mind, and make it worse. He couldn’t think of anything else other than how Cas seemed in love with his flowers, and how he apparently cared for them all by himself, and it looked like more work than one guy could handle. It had to mean Cas had some serious dedication, which was cool. Maybe he could just talk with him more, get to know him so he wasn’t just stuck with his family over summer. It was only fair since Sam and Jess had apparently hit off so well when he’d gone over yesterday.

Closing his eyes, he just stuck his hands in his pockets, breathing deeply and hoping he could think about something that wasn’t his new neighbor. He could think about how his mom wanted them taking a crash course in French, to maybe begin to understand what people would say to them when they started traveling. Or he could think about the fact that they had a huge property to use, and he was pretty sure there was a tree near the back with a tree house in it. That could be the first thing he checked out once he got home. Yeah, it seemed good, and it got his mind off of Cas, at least it had.

Soon enough, as Dean had lost himself in his own thinking, he’d reached his home. He stood in front of the house a moment before his mom walked out, and seeing him, waved for him to come inside and help with something. He jogged towards the house, taking the porch steps in a small leap, and closed the screen door behind him.

Inside, his mother had a map of France spread out over the dining room table, and his dad and Sam were already sitting around it. “Now, we have some plans, but we haven’t exactly set dates for them. I know I want to go to Paris on the fourteenth though. We’d probably leave on the eleventh...” Mary put her hand to her cheek, looking at the map, a pencil in her hand. “What’s so special about the fourteenth?” Dean could practically hear Sam’s eyes roll before he answered, “It’s France’s Independence Day, Dean.” Dean raised his eyebrows, he thought he could have been able to remembered that from his world history class, but he guessed wrong.

“Yes, and we’d make some stops on the way, so we wouldn’t have to travel so far out again. Like Versailles, we’d go there on our way back.” John was watching the map like a hawk as Mary circled places on the map that they would stop. “Do we have to stop so many times, Mary? The drive without them would be a lot shorter,” Dean watched as his dad leaned back in his chair, a beer in his hands. ‘“Yes, John. We have to visit the major cities. We’ll stay in Paris a few days, and then we’ll spend a day at Versailles, those are the only two places that needs a whole one at least.” “Alright, whatever you say,” he just took another gulp of his drink and continued to watch as she mapped their path.

“Now, we have extra room in the van, would you two like to invite your friends?” Dean blinked, looking at her. Friends? Did she mean Cas and Jess? Whether she did or not, Sam was the first to reply, “Yeah, I bet Jess would love to come with us! I’ll call her house to ask.” Sam stood from his chair, walking quite quickly to the kitchen to use the phone. Mary then turned to Dean, who couldn’t really believe she was asking if she wanted to invite Cas to Paris, a guy he’d just met yesterday. “Uh, sure. I’ll ask him about it... but would we really have room in the hotel rooms?” “We’d be getting two rooms anyways, dear. Your father’s been snoring up a storm lately, and I wouldn’t put any of you through that.” Mary smiled sweetly, turning to look at John, who just began to grumble that he didn’t snore, though of course he knew he did.

“What about Jess? She’d be the only girl,” he knew that would be a problem, and they’d just met her. “She’s good friends with Castiel, I’m sure she’ll be just fine.” Dean nodded then, “Yeah, I’ll uh, I’ll ask him tomorrow. I didn’t get his home phone number.” “Oh, Jessica and Castiel gave us both of theirs if we ever needed it, it’s on the counter in the kitchen. Sam might have it.” Okay, and now there was no way for him to avoid asking Castiel to go to Paris with them. I mean, he was nice and all, but he barely knew him! It seemed kind of ridiculous to be inviting a complete stranger on a family outing to the city of love. Another thing he didn’t need to think about.

Dean just nodded and stood from the table, leaving his parents to decide how they would drive there, and what routes they would take. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw Sam leaning against the counter, the phone to his ear. His cheeks were bright pink too, and Dean couldn’t help but smirk at that. The little dude had a crush on the girl down the road. Rubbing his hair only slightly, he motioned that he needed to use the phone, and Sam nodded. “Hey, Jess, I gotta go, Dean has to use the phone. I’ll see you later, bye!” Sam then handed the phone to Dean, as well as the paper he would need to dial Cas’s house phone.

After punching the numbers in, he was staring out the window that faced the front porch, hoping Cas wouldn’t pick up. “Salut,” came the voice from the other end of the line. “Uh, hey Cas.” “Dean? Is that you?” “Yeah... uh, my mom wanted to know if you wanted to go to Paris with us, on the eleventh of July.” There was a brief pause, “Let me ask my sister. I’ll be right back.” Dean could hear the phone being put down, probably on the counter in the kitchen, because he remembered seeing a phone attached to a wall there. He heard some muffled French before the phone was picked back up. “I’m done with school by then, so I’d love to go. Would we only be going to Paris?” Dean sighed in relief, though how the fact that Cas would now be in a car with him for hours relieved him, he didn’t know. “We’d be taking some stops, and we’d be visiting uh... Versailles, I think it was called.” “Oh, that would be wonderful. You could see the hall of mirrors! I’ll be able to show you around a lot of the places. I’ve been to Paris so often I almost know it like the back of my hand.” “Awesome, well, I gotta go, I’ll talk to you later.” “You can call anytime, Dean. Salut.” Dean almost hung up, but he stopped, “Wait.” “Yes?” “Why do you say Salut as hello and goodbye?” “Because it can be used for both, Dean. I wouldn’t use it if it wasn’t.” “Oh, okay. Well then, uh, Salut.” “Salut, Dean.”

With the phone hung up, Dean suddenly needed a glass of water. Cas was going to Paris with them. He was going to be sitting close to Cas, a guy he’d just freaking met not even  day ago, while they drove to Paris, the capital of France. This was beyond weird, though to say that Dean wasn’t excited for when they left would be a lie. It was more like the eleventh of July couldn’t come quick enough.

 


	4. The Forest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh this might be the last chapter for a week or so because I have school. I'll make sure to work hard on them though! Thank you for reading!

To say that Castiel had been a little weirded out when Dean had asked him to go to Paris would be an understatement. He had already planned on going with his siblings, but something had come up the last weekend, and Anna and Balthazar had to go and meet their parents over in Germany for the first three weeks of July, which would have meant he would be celebrating alone. But now, he had his new friend to take him to see the fireworks in the capital of his beloved country. It had been so random for it to be asked, though it was only natural that one would want to see how other countries celebrated their independence. Last year, Castiel had been stuck home taking care of his siblings, who had both caught the flu. It hadn't been fun.

This year it would be different. He'd be showing the American family around, he would show them everything there was to see that he knew of in his capital. He could tell them the secrets that nobody told, he could make this experience for them incredible, and an overcoming urge to do so filled him at that moment. Castiel put the phone he had been holding back onto the wall, and headed up to his room, turning on his computer and making sure he had a notepad near by to jot down ideas. He would plan the perfect trip to Paris for the Winchesters, there was no other way he could approach it.

Sadly, he stayed up doing that all night, and forgot to eat dinner, eventually falling asleep at his desk. And that wasn't the first time. His alarm didn't go off, so at half past six o'clock, Castiel was running through his house, getting everything ready to go as he ate breakfast and tried to pull his sweater on. He was finally able to leave only fifteen minutes after waking up, taking his bike and riding as furious as he could down the road.

In his haste though, he forgot his lunch, his phone, and his mathematics textbook. All of which he needed. There was no time to go back, as school started at eight. The whole ride there, through the cold morning weather, Castiel hoped that his breakfast of toast and an apple would be enough, but he could feel his stomach already beginning to protest at the lack of food. If he just ignored it, which he was used to doing by now, he could hopefully get through the day and just stuff his face once home.

With three minutes to spare, Castiel made it into his classroom, and thankfully they hadn't started early without him. He could tell just from this that it was going to be a long week.

****

 

* * *

 

****

Dean woke up around nine in the morning. Only after a weekend in the place he was used to the time. He got hungry at the right times, and felt sleepy at the right times. It was almost perfect. Now if only he had something to do. He did of course have summer homework for his classes for when he returned to start his senior year, but he had a while to do all that, so why do it now?

Upon waking up, Dean stayed in bed a good half hour, just staring at the ceiling, mostly smelling his pillow. It smelled really nice, and he was suddenly glad, in a strange sort of way, that he had been so tired when Cas had first come over, though if he hadn't been something equally good could have happened, but who knew. It was when he finally heard his mother shouting she was going to the store that he realized he should get up. His mom knew French, she could speak to the clerks and get what she needed, but if she was leaving, so was Dad, which meant that he would be home alone with Sam, and which meant he could pull his first prank in France on his little brother this morning.

Sam, unlike Dean, didn't have lavender under his pillow, and his sleeping was still completely off. He knew for a fact his little brother hadn't gone to bed till around three in the morning, which meant he would be out until later that afternoon. Dean had until then to cook up a plan to get his little brother for taking a video of him while on the plane. That video would be deleted of course before he played his prank, just in case it didn't work, but either way, there would be no evidence of his fear leaving their knowledge.

He turned over in bed, blinking as the light from the window hit his eyes. Sitting up in bed felt like a lot of work, but he felt entirely rested, and he only had Cas to thank for that. Making sure to stretch his arms, he got up, reaching for his toes too. Dean felt really amazing, not something he usually experienced, especially in the morning. He just put a pair of basketball shorts on and a shirt, and headed out of his room towards the bathroom. The mirror showed that he didn't need to shave too badly, so he could let that go, but he had to brush his teeth, as he had morning breath, and he didn't want to put anyone through that.

Once out of the bathroom, he heard the front door close, which meant his parents were gone, and that the house was under his control. Though in order to think of a fulfilling prank to play on his little brother, he would need something to eat for breakfast.

Upon entering the country, Mary and John had done their best to just start off with foods there were familiar with, so cereals and pop tarts were their main breakfast item. Dean, when he saw that these were the only things in the cupboard, wished he'd gone with his parents to make sure they bought some quality things for future meals. He just stuck with some Cheerios and milk, sitting down at the kitchen table to eat them silent, listening for any sign that his younger brother might have woken up. He finished and had his bowl in the sink in only a few minutes, and then he was looking through all the cupboards and closets in the house.

There was nothing sufficient for Dean to play a prank on Sam. After searching the house for an hour, he gave up, because the place had been rented out and cleaned, so anything that had been left by the last people who'd rented the place was either stolen by the cleaning attendants, or there just wasn't anything left. Dean just went back to his room; he'd need to check to see if he'd brought anything that could possible be used to give his little brother a brighter day.

The only thing in his bag were his clothes, and his laptop. Everything else had been left at home. Dean was suddenly upset that he hadn't gotten a lot of time to pack and make sure he had things to fill his time. Though through his laptop he could surely do something. He brought the thin thing from his bag and placed it on the small desk by the window, plugging it in before pressing the power button to turn it on.

A few minutes later he found that it wouldn't be any good either. They didn't have any wifi in the house, which meant they'd either need to buy something to remedy that, or he was completely cut off from his friends back home. He then heard Sam's door open, and he sighed. Dean wouldn't be able to play a prank on his brother, though now that he thought about it, anything he would have been able to come up with would have been lame.

Dean just walked downstairs after his brother, the two silent as they just sat across from each other. "Where are mom and dad?" Sam had just finished his package of cinnamon pop tarts, and was pouring himself a glass of milk. "They went to the grocery store, probably to get produce and some meat." "Why didn't you go with them?" "I wasn't out of bed." Sam only nodded, drinking his milk until it was gone. "Please tell me you brought something to pass the time here, right?" Sam nodded his head, "My homework." Dean groaned, his face in his hands. He didn't even bring a freaking baseball to just toss around. "Nothing else? Like a baseball, soccer ball? Anything?" "No. I might have brought a frisbee though." Dean sighed in relief, it was better than nothing. "Then get a jacket on and we'll go outside. I need something to do."

Dean liked what he knew and had experienced of France so far. He recall did. Though one thing he wished was better, was the weather. Sure, to a lot of people sixty degrees Fahrenheit was nice, and it was, but Dean missed the heat. Kansas around this time was in the eighties, bordering nineties until July. The warmth was a security, and if there was a breeze, it was perfect. Not where they were though, it was about eleven in the morning and it was only in the mid sixties, just not warm enough for Dean's liking.

The brothers got outside and began throwing the frisbee back and forth, and they stayed out there until their parents returned with groceries, helping them bring them in and making lunch. They ate at the dining room table, Mary explaining more things she wanted to do while in France. By the time they finished with that, it was around two in the afternoon.

After that, Dean and Sam went outside. The lot of land Bobby owned was big, and Dean was suddenly wondering where his old friend had gotten that kind of money, or if it was another thing Bobby didn't talk about. The old man had said there were posts around the edges saying they were leaving the property, so he knew if he needed to start heading back because he was trespassing. There were a lot of things though that he could look at, as the beginning of a forest could be seen from his bedroom window, and so that was what the older Winchester was going to do. That and see if there really was a tree house because those things were awesome.

 

* * *

 

Upon reaching home, the first thing Castiel did was eat. He had half a loaf of bread, two apples, and a pear. Only until after he'd eaten all of that did he stop and have a large glass of water and sit down. He was so tired, and his hunger had only made it worse. He couldn't hear Anna or Balthazar in the house, so he just walked up to his room, closing the door behind him. His phone was lying on his bed, and he was upset that he'd forgotten that too. PIcking up and looking through it, he read a text from Anna saying she had a student in Nantes for the next week. Another text from Balthazar told him his older brother would be in Blain the next three days with Rachel, which meant he was home alone until then.

He didn't mind it, being home alone, but sometimes it grew weird, and corners seemed darker than they were. At those time though he would just absorbed into his homework, or go outside and work on his flowers. He couldn't do that latter, since he'd just been gardening the day before, but the first was well ahead of him. His last couple papers were due by the end of the week, and he just had to go over them and make sure they were perfect. At least he'd planned on doing that.

The phone in the kitchen rang as he sat down at his desk, and he had to practically fall down the stairs to get to it in time. "Allo?" he was breathing hard, though trying to mask it. "Hey, uh Castiel. Dean isn't over there by any chance, is he?" It was Sam, and he sounded worried. "No, why? Is he not home?" There was a pause before Sam continued talking. "I saw him go outside through the back door, but I figured he just walked around to get to the road since we were in the dining room." Castiel took a deep breath, this was not good in any sense of the word. "He might have wandered towards the back of the property, did you check there?" "No, and my parents are asleep in the living room and I don't know what to do." Castiel nodded, mostly to himself since the younger boy wouldn't be able to see him. "I'll be right over and we can go back there. Get a jacket on, it's supposed to be cooling down a bit soon." "Okay, I'll meet you in front of the house."

The phone was hung up and Cas was running back up the stairs, grabbing his jacket and a new pair of socks, along with his cell phone that was then put into his pocket. Once downstairs, he put his shoes on and headed back outside, picking up his bike and running it to the road before he was jumping on to ride to the house down the road.

Sam was waiting just by the gate to the house, his arms crossed over his chest. "When was the last time you saw him?" "Around three hours ago? I don't know, he left after we finished talking about plans," Sam seemed nervous, and Castiel didn't blame him, he felt the same. "He probably went back into the forest on the edge of the property. Come on, I've been through it many times." Sam nodded, and the two began walking through he grass towards the trees they could see from the house.

Once they reached the sign that said they were leaving the property, they paused. "Are you sure he didn't go anywhere else? Maybe Jessica's house?" "I called her first, but she wasn't home." "Oh right... she's with her parents at their work Mondays and Tuesdays.... That means the only place he could really be is here. I'll call your house and leave a message telling your parents we're searching for him together, alright?" Sam nodded and Castiel took out his phone dialing the number.

After the message was left, the two entered the forest, in search of the older brother. The trees didn't block out all the sunlight, but they did a good job of making a lot of places possible for someone to hide. It was about a half hour that Castiel said they should head back, though going eastward, towards his house. Sam agreed and they started back. Only ten minutes after that did they find a tree with a house in it, wooden planks nailed to the trunk for a ladder. "He might be up there," Sam said, "I remember him saying that Bobby told him about a tree house somewhere. Maybe he went and looked for it and stayed up there?" Castiel nodded, looking at it again. "Well, there's only one way to find out."

The two boys walked towards the tree, and Castiel started up the ladder first, to make sure it was safe. It was, and he soon reached the hole that entered the bottom of the tree house. The inside looked bigger than it did from below, and was surprised to find a small cot and a dresser in there, along with an open chest. He wasn't surprised to see Dean sprawled out over the cot, asleep. Castiel looked down, and waved for Sam to come up.

The two watched as Dean slept, Sam with his arms crossed. "We should do something," he muttered. "No, I don't think he meant to be gone so long, but it was a long walk out here.... he must have just been tired." Castiel stepped forward at that, kneeling down next to the cot to place a hand on Dean's arm. "Dean, you need to wake up. It's almost five in the afternoon." The slight shakes and prods he gave him didn't help. Castiel sighed and pressed the back of his hand to Dean's forehead, to feel if it was in any way warm. That was when Dean moved suddenly, grabbing Cas's wrist as he woke.

"Woah," Dean was blinking through the light coming in through the window, looking at them both, and how he'd grabbed Cas. He let go and sat up, his face a bit flushed. "Uh, how long have I been out?" "I don't know, but you've been away from the house about three hours. Sam was worried." Dean nodded, looking to his little brother behind Cas, smiling. "Aw, Sammy, you do care." "Jerk," Sam just shook his head, beginning to climb down the ladder.

Dean sighed, getting up as he rubbed his eyes. "Dean, you scared me." Dean looked through his hands at Cas, closing them before dropping his arms to his sides. "I didn't mean to. I was just tired, and this place looked comfy." "Well, next time tell someone, alright?" Dean nodded, and the two both moved to descend from the tree house.

The trio walked home through the forest. Sam and Dean asked Castiel questions about school, and he answered them as best he could. When they reached the house, Mary was waiting in the dining room, her face looking stricken with worry. Though as soon as she saw them it melted off into thankfulness. She kissed Castiel on his forehead and hugged him before going to Dean and sternly telling him to be more careful.

As Castiel was about to leave, Mary stopped him. "Honey, why not stay for dinner? It's the least we could do." "Ah, uh," Castiel wanted to decline, but he couldn't see a reason too. He was alone at his house, there was no reason for him to eat alone, so he nodded his head, a smile spreading on his face. "I'd love to."

The family then got moving, Mary and Sam cooking dinner as Castiel helped Dean set the table for them. John was still dozing in the living room, apparently he hadn't taken the jet lag very good either. Castiel sat next to Dean at the table, happy that he could be included in something when his own family was gone. They ate pasta with some red sauce and meatballs, something Castiel wasn't very used to having. He was also quite surprised by how much the rest of them seemed to be eating compare to him, but he didn't say anything. They stayed at the table until they finished talking, and Castiel then excused himself to wash up before he left.

When he walked out of the bathroom he headed towards the front door, saying goodbye to everyone as he walked out of the house. As he was about to mount his bike though, Dean came out of the door, waving him down. "Uh, thanks for going with Sam to look for me. I don't know what I would have done if he'd gotten lost. Just.. thank you." "It was nothing. Salut, Dean." "Bye, Cas." Dean patted him on the shoulder, and Castiel could swear he thought he saw a slight shade of pink coloring Dean's cheeks before he left, riding down the road to get back home.

Castiel had a long week of school ahead of him,and if this was only Monday, he wondered what the rest of the week would be like.


	5. Pornic

It wasn't until around five Friday afternoon that Castiel returned home from school. He'd made sure everything was fine, and had gone grocery shopping in the town, to make sure he had enough food for the weekend, though both Balthazar and Anna should have been home at least two days ago. Going shopping without the aid of a car meant he couldn't buy milk, so he dealt with what he could, getting bread and snack food for while he did homework over the weekend.

The ride home was nice, the sky was just barely overcast and so it wasn't overly warm for him to be riding home such a long way. That wasn't to say that the ride home was nice though, as there seemed to be many more drivers down the roads he took to get home, so he had to make sure he avoided those, while keeping an eye on the groceries that were in the basket of his bicycle.

Upon arriving at home, he was tired and hungry, and so the first thing Castiel did was go to his room and change into the most comfortable clothes he had, because he was going to enjoy his Friday night. He turned his computer on when entering his room, making sure he could check some things before he completely ignored everyone, and sighed. It seemed Balthazar wasn't coming home for until after Sunday, and Anna was coming home next Monday night. That meant he was without milk until then. Castiel didn't think it was too much to ask for, having some chocolate syrup and making chocolate milk, but it was one of the unattainable things since he didn't have a vehicle of his own.

He closed the top of his laptop, standing and stretching his arms before he heard the phone ringing downstairs. Castiel knew it was probably one of the Winchesters asking about something, and so he hurried downstairs, stifling a yawn as he did before answering the phone. "Allo?" "Cas, it's Dean. Hey, uh, I was wondering, do you wanna go to Pornic with us? I mean, you don't have to, but we figured you'd know the place better than us." Castiel kept from sighing, pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd been hoping to sleep in the next morning, but he couldn't just let them go without him.

"I'd love to, Dean. When are you leaving?" "Around eight or nine tomorrow morning." Castiel wouldn't be able to sleep in at all then. He would need to wake up around six so he would have enough time to shower and eat and then ride to their house, and he wasn't sure if he would be motivated enough to do all of that, especially since he'd be skipping out on an important homework day.

"Dean, that would... I would have to wake up very early in order to get over there on time, and I'm very tired." Dean didn't speak for a second, and then hurriedly rushed his next sentence," Uh just a moment." The phone was put down on something, and Castiel yawned, waiting for him to return. "Hey, you could always stay over here. There's an extra room and that way you don't have to wake up early. We'll even let you have some of our amazing American breakfast we brought over from America." Castiel hadn't really thought about staying over at the Winchester's house, but it seemed a decent solution.

"I'll take a shower and make my way over there then. I should be over around seven or eight." "Awesome, and I can tell you some cool stories before bed. I'll make sure the room is ready for you. See you soon, bye Cas!" "Goodbye, Dean." Castiel shook his head slightly, not really believing he would be staying over in the house with them so he could leave tomorrow morning.

A shower was in the process first, and he made sure to clean himself thoroughly and dry everything, so dirt wouldn't stick to him when riding down the road to the other house. Dinner was next, and he just had a small sandwich and some apples, as he was also getting his bag ready for the overnight stay. He brought clothes for tomorrow, as he was just wearing shorts and a t-shirt for the ride over. Castiel also packed a notepad and a pen, just in case he noticed anything different, something he'd been doing ever since he'd moved to France.

When all of Castiel's preparations were finished, he made sure to lock all the doors, and close all the windows. He also turned off all the lights and finally walked out of his house, a key being stuffed into his pocket as he picked up his bike. With the little light on the front of his bike on, he placed his bag in the basket and kicked off the from the ground beginning to pedal as he moved down the road.

It seemed a shorter ride than it was,and Castiel checked his phone as he stopped in front of the house to see it was around seven, just the time he'd said he'd be there. He put his bike on the porch and rung the doorbell, standing in front of the doormat as he waited to be let in. Castiel was surprised to see Jessica open the door, and the girl immediately hugged Castiel, her arms wrapped around his neck before kissing him on the cheek. "We've haven't been to Pornic in such a long time, Castiel! Not since we last went shopping for that event your parents had held." Castiel nodded, taking her hands from around him so he could open the door.

"So I assume you're going as well?" "Sam invited me, and my parents agreed that sleeping over would be good, and they trust them to give me my own room, so that's exciting. "I thought this house only had four bedrooms." "It does," Dean was coming down from the stairs, his face red as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his sweats. "I forgot that Jess was stayin' over too, so uh, you either got the couch, or you can use my bed, Cas." Castiel sighed, and was about the answer when Mary came from the kitchen. "There's a rollaway bed somewhere, Bobby told us just in case we needed it for anything. It should be in a closet, and he can use that in your room, Dean. Hello Castiel, dear. I'm glad you could come," she smiled and returned into the kitchen.

"What's she doing?" Dean shrugged his shoulders, "Probably trying to make sure we have a full day in Pornic tomorrow. She's already booked reservations at a restaurant and everything." Castiel nodded, moving towards the stairs so he could get his bed ready. "That sounds reasonable. Though there are some really good restaurants, it'd be hard to choose." Dean was following him up the stairs, his hand on the side  rail, holding it and letting it slide under his hand as he followed Cas.  

They reached the top and Dean took it from there, pointing towards his room and leading the way, opening the door to let him in. The bed was large and Castiel wished he could sleep in a bed that big back home, but he was fine with his own. "Well, I can clear some of this stuff away to make room for the roll-away. Just a second," Dean then went to moving his suitcases into the closet and what seemed to be textbooks there too. "Do you have summer work?" "For school? Yeah, because I'm about to start my senior year, and we're not going back until after the years started." Castiel nodded, wishing his parents would let him leave the country with them to visit other places. It just didn't happen though, and he wouldn't complain when he liked how he was situated there.

Castiel placed his things on Dean's bed, and followed him out of the room and down the hallway towards a door that opened up to be a small storage room, and the roll-away bed was folded up, ready to be wheeled out of there and into the bedroom. The two boys were able to finish that quickly, the bed unfolded and pushed next to the other side of the desk. They both helped to choose out some sheets and got to making the bed, Dean getting some extra pillows while Castiel searched for a blanket he could use during the night.

When his bed was ready, and they were sure it wouldn't close and try to kill him, they just settled down. Everyone seemed to be tired, and Castiel had ridden the almost three miles over, so they all retreated into their rooms after some cookies that Castiel had never had before and thought were wonderful.

At first it was a bit awkward to basically be staring at Dean as he laid down on his bed, the desk the only thing that was keeping them any distance away. "So, how long have you lived here?" Castiel bit his lip, thinking about it. He had lived there for a long time, and most of the memories from when he was young felt as though they could have taken place in France or England. "I was born in England, and moved here when I was seven. I've lived here for ten years." Dean nodded, turning to be on his back. "That's pretty crazy. Do you still miss England?" Castiel shook his head, still watching Dean as he tried to get comfortable. "Not really. Back then I was just covered in babysitters and nannies in a very compact place. When we moved here it was almost like a breath of fresh air, and my siblings were about thirteen then and so our parents were around more, since they were closer to the people they work for."

"Who do your parents work for?" Castiel paused, biting his lip again before moving to be facing away from Dean and the window. He was about to reply when he heard the bed underneath his creak and groan and he could feel what was about to happen. The legs that were keeping it up collapsed and the frame cracked. Castiel stood up from it as fast as possible, jumping away almost. The bed was ruined, and the mattress had been torn somehow, which left him without a bed to sleep in that night.

Dean was cursing behind him and sighed. "Come on, get in." Castiel turned to him to see Dean making room on one side of the bed, and his face immediately became warm. "Um, I'm pretty sure the couch downstairs will be just-" "Cas, you'll wake everyone up. Just get in." Castiel gulped and nodded, "Okay." With that, Dean moved over more, and Castiel brought his blankets from the ruined rollaway bed, along with his pillow, before getting onto it. He was so close to Dean he could see that he had smaller freckles over his forehead. "Thank you," Castiel whispered, closing his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at Dean anymore. "Good night, Cas." "Bonne nuit..."

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The next morning, Dean woke to see Cas asleep facing him, his face was smooth and it seemed more peaceful, small bruises under his eyes telling him that Cas probably hadn't been sleeping well lately. That was when he heard the knocking again that had woken him up, and he turned over to see his mom opening the door, motioning her wrist and mouthing that they had an hour to get ready. Dean nodded his head, his mother closing the door, and he almost groaned at the smile on her face.

"Cas, buddy, you gotta get up, man. We're leaving in an hour," Dean shook Cas's shoulder lightly, trying to get him to stir. He didn't though, the only thing happening was that Castiel's eyes seemed to darken a bit, as though he was still trying to hold onto his sleep. "Dude, come on. I'll pour cold water on you if you don't hurry." Cas was grumbling, and turned over in bed, and Dean just sighed. "Fine. You asked for it." Dean then purposely crawled over him to get out of the bed, and pulled on his blankets, pulling them off as he walked to the door. "Dean!" "Good morning, sunshine. Glad you could wake up," Dean smiled and left the blankets on the ground before opening the door and bolting towards the kitchen.

Dean could hear Cas's feet bounding behind him as he went down the stairs and rounded the corner into the kitchen, putting the table in between him and Cas as the other boy came into view. "Dean, I was sleeping," Cas seemed mad, but he seemed more tired than anything else. "Yeah, and you needed to wake up," Dean chuckled, looking behind him to see Sam and Jess already dressed and eating some pancakes. He suddenly remembered he was only wearing his boxers and a t-shirt.

"Boy, we have guests over, go get some clothes on," John walked into the room, frowning at his oldest son. "Sorry, sir. I'll be sure to do that right now," Dean nodded and stuck his tongue out at Cas once his father passed him, running past just a bit to make sure Castiel couldn't jab him while he went up the stairs.

Once he had some jeans on, Dean was back downstairs, around the table with the rest of his family and some. They ate, Jessica and Castiel mentioning on how thick the pancakes seemed to be, but not really complaining with how much whipped cream they seemed to be putting on them. Dean went back upstairs to get some shoes and socks on, and finally a shirt that didn't smell, and he grabbed a light jacket, as it didn't look as though it was gonna get very warm today.

They all met downstairs in front of the door, and he waited next to Cas who happened to be dozing just a bit while standing up. Dean pinched him when they were walking out of the house, leading him towards the van they'd picked up upon leaving the airport. Dean took one of the back seats, basically splaying out to take up the entirety of it. Castiel frowned and shook his head moving his legs to sit in the seat next to him while Sam and Jess took the seats in front. John sat in the passenger seat and Mary in the driver's, looking back and smiling at all of them. "Okay, let's pray you guys," she bowed her head and proceeded to start her prayer. "Dear God, please give us safe passage to Pornic today, and grant us a safe trip home as well. And let us have a great experience, and thank you for bringing us all the way here. Amen." As she ended, Sam, Jess and John repeated their closing, Dean keeping quiet as he looked to Cas, whose hands were folded in his lap. That started the almost hour long drive to Pornic.

The drive wasn't supposed to be long, and it wasn't, but Dean found himself to be might bored, as he didn't have anything to do and his parents had yet to decide if it was worth it trying to get satellite phones for them to use. He glanced over at Cas, who was gazing out the window, and suddenly a thought struck him. "I don't know.. Maybe we shouldn't go. I mean, this town's name is PORNIC. It seems a bit, weird, right?" Sam turned his head, a bitch face in place, "Dean, you're so immature." Dean glanced at Cas, who was biting his lip. Castiel then leaned over to whisper something into his ear. "Pornic... It ends in a syllable similar to that of nique, which in French, means 'fuck'." Dean couldn't hold his laughter in at that, his face reddening as he thought about it, and he could see the tips of Cas's ears getting red too. "What'd he say to you, Dean?" Dean bit his lip, stopping himself from laughing anymore. "Oh, nothing. It's fine." "Well then you can all shut up, I'm trying to help your mom drive to this place, and I need it quiet." The rest of the drive was silent, and around ten in the morning they made it to Pornic.

The first thing they were apparently going to do was drive around the Château, as it wasn't opened to the public. Castiel supplied some history to it, telling them that it was built as a defensive building to protect the port, and that it was originally built as a wooden fort in the tenth century, but had been rebuilt in the twelfth century into stone. He just spewed lots of uninteresting facts that Mary seemed to eat up. They couldn't even get very close, and so any pictures that John had wanted to get weren't the best.

By the time they'd gone and done that, it was around lunch, and Dean's stomach was growling, so they set off looking for someplace they could eat. "I've eaten here a couple times, they don't have that much of a selection, but some things are good. There is one place I think you might like. It serves a variety of fresh and cooked seafood. It's called Le Navire." Jessica nodded, her smile broadening, "We went there for my parent's last anniversary." Mary seemed delighted by how he brought it up. "Well, it's good that I've already made reservations there, isn't it?" The group then began to talk about what they were going to get and what they might have.

They were able to park not far away from the restaurant, and when they walked in, Mary talked with the man at the front table, giving them their name, and they were then shown in towards a table near the back. They were all given menus and Dean couldn't even understand what the guy was saying, probably something along the lines of 'today's soup special is' or something. Dean leaned over, looking at Castiel's menu, and just pouted. He couldn't read French, how was he supposed to order?

"Dean, do you need help?" Castiel was looking at him now and Dean almost shook his head, "Uh, yeah. What's this?" He pointed towards one of the items listed on the front page of the menu. "That is Moule-Frites, it's mussels with french fries. I think you'd like it." "And the drinks?" "I'm sure those are easy enough to figure out, Dean. See?" He pointed towards the small pictures of the types of sodas they offered there. "They also offer tea, coffee, orange juice, though that's usually for breakfast." Dean nodded, closing his menu as he knew what he'd get. "What're you getting, Cas?" The other boy shrugged his shoulders, sighing as he closed his menu and leaned back in his chair. "Probably the same thing. I'm not all that hungry." The rest of the family continued to go over their menus as they waited for the waiter to appear.

Their waiter came back with small glasses of water, and began taking orders. Dean was getting nervous, was he going to order his own, and in English? Would the guy even understand him? Then the time came, and the waiter was looking at him. Wait, had they all just ordered in French, or had Jess ordered for them? God, Dean could feel the sweat rolling down his back. "Vous désirez?" Dean was about to speak, and say he didn't know French, about to out himself in front of everyone, but then Cas saved his life, and he almost went to kiss the guys feet. "On prendra tous les deux le menu moule-frites." The waiter nodded and then asked for what everyone would like to drink, and Dean just pointed towards the small image of coke instead of asking Cas how to tell him.  

When the waiter left, Dean nearly collapsed. "Man, you saved me there." Castiel blinked, seemingly not understanding what Dean meant. "I was only just making it easier." Dean nodded his head, no longer talking about it.

Their food was delivered in less than a half hour, which surprised John more than anything, as he kept grumbling about fancy restaurants taking forever to get their food on the tables. They began to eat, and Dean was very happy with his, that was until he finished what was on his plate and he was still hungry. "That was small," he said, as though just pointing it out for the rest of his family to see. Dean looked to the rest of them, who still had some food, or were also finished with what they'd been served. "Dean, you can have the rest of mine," Castiel was placing his plate atop Dean's, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You sure, Cas?" His friend nodded, "I had quite a big breakfast. Those pancakes were very large." Cas smiled, and Dean smiled back before he ate the rest of what was on the plate.

Their waiter came back to ask if they would like dessert, and Mary said yes and some other things that Dean couldn't understand. Though it was apparent they would be getting some dessert, which made Dean sort of uncomfortable. He didn't like that many different kinds of dessert, and so he was clueless as to what his mother would be smiling about.  "Cas, what'd she order?" "She ordered everyone a piece of cherry pie." At that, Dean physically got up and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek, a smile spread across his face from cheek to cheek.

After dessert was finished, and Dean finished his pie the fastest, as he couldn't prolong and let it cool, they all headed out and walked back to the van. None of them could decide what they would do now, since it seemed as though it wouldn't be getting any warmer and they didn't want to go shopping there when they were going to Paris in just a few weeks.

"We could just go and visit the beach. We don't have to go in," Sam suggested, and Mary seemed to like that, telling the rest of them to buckle up and get ready. It wasn't a long ride to the closest beach, and so they were soon out of the car, Sam and Jessica running towards the water with their shoes in their hands. Dean just walked forward, his own shoes in his left hand as he walked through the sand slowly, letting his feet sink slightly as he did. Castiel was only a few feet ahead of him, his hands behind his back, his shoes also being gripped tight by his fingers as he tried to draw something with his feet.

Dean kept quiet as he walked up behind him, trying his best to stay silent before he tapped him on the shoulder, causing the other boy to drop his shoes and almost fall to the ground. "Dean!.. You scared me." Castiel's face went from scared to playful in a second, pushing Dean back just a little before getting his shoes from the ground. "That was kinda the point, Cas." "Well, it still wasn't very nice." Dean just smirked, walking closer to the water, Castiel matching his steps as they traveled there together.

The two just stood with their feet in the waves, their pants rolled up so they wouldn't get wet. Dean couldn't help but smile as he saw Sam and Jess getting positively soaked, and he hoped his parents had brought some towels just in case.

"Hey, Cas." "Yes, Dean?" "Have you ever thought of visiting America?" Dean glanced over at the other boy, who was again trying to draw something in the wet sand with his toes "I've thought about it. If my parents ever had to go there for business I would most likely accompany them. Why?" Dean shrugged his shoulders, walking a bit closer to see what Cas could be drawing. It didn't look like anything, though he wouldn't say anything about it.  "Just wondering. It'd just be cool, you know, if you came and visited us, then I could show you around places." Castiel looked up fro the sand, forgetting about it as he looked to Dean. "What kind of things would you like to show me?"

Dean didn't expect that sort of question, and so he paused, looking from the sand, to Cas's eyes briefly before to the ocean. "I don't know. Just things unique to America, I guess. Like, we'd get you a proper cheeseburger, and not those things they try to sell us here. I'd take you to a fair, if it was during the summer, and maybe a carnival if one came into town. I'd show you my baby." He thought of his baby, his Impala back home, and sighed. He'd wished he'd been able to bring it over, but his parents had told him that wasn't possible. "Your baby?" "She's a car. My dad gave her to me when I turned seventeen, after I'd gotten my license." Castiel nodded and was then biting his llip. "I'd like to visit you. It seems... nice." Dean smiled, "It's wonderful." That was when they heard Mary whistling from the road, and they returned to the car, getting their feet dusted off to not get so much sand into the vehicle. Sam and Jess were given towels to sit on, and a stern look from John who had told them not to play too rough in the water.

The ride home was quiet, and seemed longer due to the traffic, but Dean hardly noticed, as he was just watching as Cas barely nodded off to sleep before they reached their house around four in the afternoon. They all hunkered down in the house, all tired from what they'd done that day, and all grumbling they could take a shower or get clean clothes on later. It seemed as though naps were due for all of them.

Dean was in his room, almost asleep when Cas walked in, his hair wet and face pale. "Is it alright if I share your bed again, Dean?" "That's fine, Cas. Come on," he moved over, letting Castiel get comfortable before just smiling as they both fell asleep.


	6. Best Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't read through this very well during editing because im hungry and i still have homework to finish, but i hope you like it!

When Castiel woke from his nap he was surprised to see Dean was passed out next to him. He just stayed there, watching his friend as he slept. The light coming through the curtains covering the window seemed to just past over the freckles on his nose and cheeks, and Castiel couldn't help but smile before green eyes were looking at him. "Hello, Dean." "Hey, Cas." It was silent for just a minute or two, both of them content to just continue their look. "This bed is quite comfortable." Dean nodded and smiled, chuckling a bi. "You're weird, you know what?" "How?" "Well, you stare at people that're sleepin', and you have a shit ton of flowers that only you take care of." "Is that bad?" Dean shook his head, "No. Just weird. It's just, you." Castiel nodded, as if understanding.

"You're weird too." Castiel sat up in bed, looking to Dean before moving the curtains to let more light in. Dean sat up as well, leaning against the wall as Castiel grabbed his knees through the blanket. "Yeah? And how is that?" "You talk in your sleep." Castiel watched as Dean's eyes went wide and he smiled and began to laugh. "Wait, were you joking? Cas! Don't freak me out like that man." Dean shoved Castiel lightly, and he continued to smile. "You're weird because you refer to a car as your baby, when it's impossible for you to have father a vehicle." Castiel continued to smile, watching as Dean rolled his eyes and did the same. "Yeah, whatever. It doesn't matter, you just haven't seen her in all her beauty." "I would like to." Dean paused, and Castiel tilted his head a bit, as the sun was coming through the window into his face. "Really?" "Yes."

Castiel removed his covers as Dean got out of bed, moving to his backpack to get a laptop out and place it on the desk. "It's not a very good picture, it's from last year on the fourth of July, but it was a lot of fun. I think my dad took it," Dean sat in the chair, turning the laptop on and waiting to put his password in. Castiel went to stand behind him, one hand on the chair back and one on the desk, leaning forward over Dean's shoulder as he watched him sort through his pictures. He finally came to a darker picture, though something coming from the sky seemed to be lighting two figures that were sitting atop the front of a car. "Is that you and Sam?" Castiel couldn't see they very well, but the car seemed sleek and black, something large and a vehicle he could easily see Dean driving. "Yup, though I don't usually let people sit on top of the hood of her."

The door behind them opened, and Castiel turned to see Sam who was wiping his eyes, as he'd probably been sleeping as well. "Guys," he stifled a yawn, "It's time for dinner." Dean turned his chair around and nodded, waving at Sam before turning back to turn his laptop off. "I should probably head home afterwards. Balthazar is supposed to come home tomorrow." Castiel gathered his things and stuffed them into his bag before picking up his shoes and heading downstairs with Dean. "He's your older brother, right?" "Yes, actually, Anna and Balthazar are twins." Castiel could see the surprise on Dean's face and smiled, shaking his head a bit before placing his things next to the front door.

The family was around the table, and he found out that Jessica had left quite a bit earlier when her parents had picked her up, so he sat on the same side as Sam, Dean across from him, and John and Mary at either end of the table. They were just having some simple sandwiches they'd made a bit earlier, and Castiel was thankful he got to drink some milk that weekend. "Alright, best things. Sam, you can go first." Castiel stared at Mary, confused as to what she was talking about. "My best things are,uh, going to the beach and begin able to play with Jessica, and lunch. Those were pretty good." Dean seemed to be coughing, trying to mask something he was saying, "Only because you got a crush on her." "Do not, Dean!" "I didn't say anything," he proceeded to cough more, "I just have a bad cough. Somethin' must have went down the wrong pipe." Castiel sighed and rolled his eyes, though a smirk played on his lips.

"Castiel, you can go next." He didn't understand what he was supposed to do though. They hadn't done these best things at the last dinner he'd eaten with them. "I don't know what to do." Dean just patted him on the shoulder, "You just tell us some of your favorite things that happened today. It's easy." Castiel nodded, thinking through his day. A lot had happened, but most of it had been good. "I liked walking on the beach as well, and lunch. I also enjoyed the nap I took this afternoon." He smiled, as though were things he would on fondly for a while from now. Castiel turned to look at the others, and saw that Dean's face was turning slightly pink, and Sam was smirking at the two of them.

"Dean, your turn." Dean nodded, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "I really liked lunch, and dessert. That nap uh, yeah that was a good nap. Haven't slept that good in a while." Castiel swallowed and picked up his glass, finishing the last of his milk rather quickly. He bit his lip, glancing back over at Dean whose face was still pink.

"I liked lunch, it was good, and of course the hot babe who was walking around the beach today," John winked over at Mary, and Castiel blinked, looking down at the table. "Dad! Come on, we have guests!" Sam covered his eyes, and Dean seemed to be almost mirroring his expression. Mary was only smiling though, and she laughed a tiny amount. "I liked being able to spend the day with all of you, even if we didn't get to do that much." After she finished, they broke from the table and put their dishes into the kitchen.

Castiel told them he would have to leave, and said goodbye to Sam and Mary, John had already fallen asleep again in the reclining chair in the living room. He met Dean by the door who was holding his bag out for him while he put his shoes on. "Thank you... for letting me share your bed. I had a really nice day." Dean nodded, scratching his head. "I did to. Thanks, Cas. Um, yeah, and you can come over anytime. We don't have a lot of plans until around the fourteenth, and you're going with us anyways so... Uh, yeah, I'll talk to you later." Castiel smiled and walked out the door, grabbing his bike from where he'd left it on the porch and riding home.

Once home, he went straight to his room and fell onto his bed, only for to not feel as comfortable as it had before. It didn't seem big enough, it wasn't soft enough, and it seemed the be colder than everything else in his room. That night was not a good one for Castiel.

 

 

* * *

 

****

Dean didn't sleep well either, and for the most part of the night he was just staring up the ceiling, thinking about all the things that had happened that day. Cas was amazing, there was no doubt about that. He was kind and he knew how to get things done. Dean just didn't wish he was feeling this way about him. He knew he was leaving in a couple months, and that made him feel horrible. What if he left France still liking Cas? What if he never told him before he left, and Cas just forgot all about him? There were so many problems with their current situation, it was impossible for him to get any sleep.

Though he woke around seven in the morning, he didn't feel rested, and he just stayed in bed. It felt too cold, and too large for just himself, and he wished Cas was still there. Dean shook his head, he needed to not think about it that way. He just needed some extra pillow or something, not another person. It was by that time, and when looking at the clock he discovered it was just past eight, that he got up. He put some clothes on, as he felt like taking a walk, and picked up his shoes from the closet along with a pair of socks before heading downstairs.

Mary was in the kitchen, Sam reading a book for his honors English class he would be starting next year, while his mother made some eggs and bacon. He grabbed himself a plate, a kiss on his mother's cheek for thanks, and sat down across from him, eating his food in silence. "So, how'd you sleep?" Sam asked, putting his bookmark into his book. Dean eyed his little brother, he could sense some alternative motive forming in his mind. "Fine. It was a late when I fell asleep, because I took a nap yesterday." He just continued to eat his food, and when he looked back to his brother to see him smiling he almost choked. Dean must have said something wrong, but what the hell had it been? Ugh, he hated when Sam did that, but there was no way to avoid it either.

After finishing his food and putting his plate and glass into the sink, he waved and told them he was going to go on a walk, and left the house, walking down the road towards Cas's house. Though if someone told him that he was walking that way on purpose he would skin them alive.

It was about an hour later he arrived at the property, and he could see someone moving in between the flowers in the backyard, so he headed across the grass towards the garden and saw Cas once again on his knees pulling small weeds and dead plants, though there were more of the first. "If you take so much care of your plants, how come they always have weeds?" Castiel jumped at the question, turning towards Dean with a hand over his heart. "Dean, you scared me. And because birds drop seeds of weeds while they fly and so they can get anywhere. I'm not going to use some chemical that might harm my flowers to keep weeds away when I can just as easily pull them." Dean nodded, and noticed he was only about halfway done. "Well, mind if I join you?" Castiel thought about it, then shrugged. "Get some gloves in the shed, and there should be another bucket and hat too. And Dean," he stared straight at him, "Do not step on my flowers."

The two got to work, and a measly hour later, they were both done, and Dean was surprised by how many weeds could be in just a few flower gardens. He was covered with sweat and he smelled horrific, which made him want to take a shower even more than he had this morning before leaving his house. He met Cas by the shed, the other boy's hair matter to his head as he took his hat off. "Thank you, Dean. That saved me a lot of time." Dean couldn't help but smile at his friend, "No problem. Wasn't like I was doing anything today anyways. Hey, how about we head inside and get some cold water? My throats burning from being so dry." Castiel nodded, placing his hat and the one Dean borrowed on pegs on the shed door before following him back towards his house.

Not really caring at all about what was around him, Dean took his shirt off upon entering the house, wiping his chest with it to get some of the sweat off. Castiel didn't notice until after he'd gotten him some water, and seemed to be staring. "Like what you see?" Dean chuckled, taking the water and gulping it down before sitting at the table and taking off his shoes. He was really hot, even though it wasn't that warm out being outside in the sun had really taken its toll on him. Castiel sat across from him, sipping his water and using a towel to wipe his face and hair down. "I should probably change, and get you a shirt to wear back home." Castiel stood up, and Dean watched him as he left the kitchen and went upstairs.

Dean got himself more water and just leaned against the kitchen counter, his hands behind him as he waited. He turned and had the faucet running again as he put water in his hands and cooled his face with water. The front door opened as he turned the faucet off and he looked to see a man just an inch or two shorter than him with short sandy blond hair. "Castiel?" he was facing the stairs, and Dean just swallowed and hoped he didn't notice him. He assumed it was Cas's brother Balthazar, but he hadn't actually seen him before.

Castiel walked down the stairs, a shirt in both hands, his chest bare like Dean's. He could hardly breathe as he saw how lean Cas was, and just occupied himself with getting more water. "Balth. Hi, I thought you weren't getting home till later?" Balthazar smirked, "So you were gonna try and bang the foreign boy while we were gone?" Dean spit out his water, though it wasn't graceful like in the movies, he more so let it fall from his mouth and onto the floor. "N-no! He took his shirt off because he was sweating.. God, Balthazar he was helping me with the flowers." Balthazar nodded and glanced towards Dean, giving him a small wink before he passed Castiel on his way up the stairs.

Castiel was grumbling under his breath and Dean could swear his face was beet red as he was handed a rather large shirt that couldn't have possibly been Cas's. "Thanks, uh, what was that about?" He pulled the shirt on over his head, Castiel just standing there with his shirt still in his hands. "Nothing, Balthazar is just waiting until I get a boyfriend. He says that I need... He is inappropriate, that's what." Castiel seemed mad about it, and pulled his shirt on too, sitting back down at the table. "I still have homework to do." Dean watched as Cas's face just got worse, it had been relaxed when they finished weeding, but now it was all stressed and he did not like that one bit.

"Hey, how about I help you with whatever I can, and then we go back over to my place for dinner?" Castiel looked up, not really believing in the offer. "Really? I don't think that'd be wise, Dean. Surely your parents must be tired of you spending so much time away. I mean you are on a family-" "Cas, I'm inviting you over. A simple yes or no is all I need." Castiel stared at him, biting his lip. "Yes." Dean smiled, standing up as he did. "Then let's get up there. Oh, and can I call my mom?" Castiel nodded his head, gesturing towards the phone next to the back door.

The next hour and half they worked on homework, and there wasn't really a lot Dean could do, but it meant he got to look through Cas's room, and find out what he had there. He just found lots of books and other things, mostly in French, so it wasn't really anything he could learn from. Around lunch they had some pasta and apples, returning to Cas's room only for another hour before his French friend was done with his homework.

"So you're all done?" "Yes, Dean. For the last time, we can head over now. Though it's only around two in the afternoon." Dean shook his head, he needed as much time as possible to help make dinner and dessert, and he hoped that his mom had gone and gotten the things he'd asked for. They both walked outside, Dean putting his shoes back on as Castiel got his bike.

"Woah, we can't take that. I have to walk." Dean watched as Castiel rolled his eyes, getting onto the bike anyways. "There's a rack behind me. Just sit on it and hold on. Don't drag your feet either," Castiel pointed towards the small wires behind the seat and Dean gulped. He didn't feel safe on that, but if it meant getting home faster than he was all for it.

At first everything was fine, Dean was sitting behind Cas, holding onto the frame, trying to find somewhere to put his feet. There was no where to hold or anywhere to put his feet, and so by the time they started hitting the bumps Dean was almost thrown off the bike before he gripped Cas's waist tight. "Holy shit, how did I not notice this road was so bumpy?!" Dean was breathing hard, and he wasn't even the one doing the pedaling. "How long does this go on?!" Castiel shook his head, "Another fifteen minutes,Dean." "Fucking hell, man," Dean just held onto Cas, closing his eyes and trying not to get motion sick from all the bumps and cracks that were making the ride so uncomfortable.

They finally got to the house, and Dean almost kissed the ground. "We'll walk next time, Cas." He took big gulps of breath and finally began walking towards the house. "Come in, you can go and see Sammy. I'm gonna help make dinner." Castiel put his bike on the porch again and nodded. "So early?" "What I have in mind is gonna take awhile, Cas. Just hold on, you'll love it."

 

* * *

 

Castiel had no clue of what to do. He had gone to see what Sam had been doing, but he had been taking a nap, so that left him in Dean's room, just sitting on his bed with nothing to do. He thought about taking a nap himself until dinner, but that felt rather stupid as if he took a nap he'd never get to bed, and he had school tomorrow. He settled with just looking around the upper story of the house, as Dean didn't want him looking into the kitchen. There were three rooms and a bathroom, a closet as well, much like his house, though larger. If he remembered correctly, though he hadn't about the size of the building, there was supposed to be a master bedroom downstairs. He suspected misses and mister Winchester resided there for the summer.

It only took twenty minutes of doing nothing to make Castiel bored, and so he just sprawled himself over Dean's bed, opening the curtains before getting into a comfortable position. He could just let Dean wake him up for dinner, and he deserved a nap anyways, he'd worked hard today. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep either.

What felt like years later he felt a hand on his shoulder trying to get him awake. He grumbled about getting five more minutes, only to look up and see Dean with flour on his face and grease on his hands. "Come on, Cas. Dinners ready and waiting on the table." There was a wide smile on the other's boy face, and he didn't quite understand why. Castiel rubbed his eyes as he followed Dean down the stairs, stifling a yawn before walking into the dining room and taking a seat next to Dean.

When he finished being sleepy, he saw what was on the table. There were large hamburgers on everyone's plate, along with some green beans that seemed to have been fried. He looked around, and they all seemed rather massive and too big for him to eat. "Dean, did you make all this?" "Sure did. I even shaped the patties and fried them myself. The pie's still in the oven though," Castiel looked to Dean as he said that, not really believing he could have made all of it since they arrived there.

Mary said grace again, and they began to eat. Dean and John seemed to take big gulping bites, though Castiel could only handle small ones, the flavor so full and rich for meat. There seemed to be some type of sauce, along with cheese and onions and lettuce, and basically everything else you would expect to find on a burger. It was almost perfect, and Castiel couldn't put it down. Even through his small bites he managed to eat the whole thing, and he felt stuffed to the brim.

"Dean, that was positively wonderful. I have to congratulate you on your cooking skills," he patted Dean's arms as saw how Dean positively beamed at the compliment. "Thanks, Cas. But we're not done yet. I'll cut you a small piece of pie, alright?" "That would be best, thank you, Dean." Castiel took some sips of water after that, watching as Dean went into the kitchen and brought people back their pieces of pie, new forks on the smaller plates.

As they ate their pie, Mary began their best things again, and she called on Dean to share first. "Well, I really liked being able to cook this meal for Cas. He hasn't had a real burger, you know? So I thought I'd make the experience special for him, and all." Castiel could feel himself blushing and just kept taking tiny bites of pie, not sure he could eat the little slice Dean had cut for him. Sam went next. "I really enjoyed that nap, and reading through that mythology book for English, though some of the myths they have aren't like others I've read. It made me kinda mad." Mary nodded, and looked to Castiel.

He didn't know what to say for his best things. The day had been over all excellent, so he shrugged his shoulders. "I was quite thankful Dean came over this morning to help me with my gardening. Also, this dinner is fantastic. I wish I could cook as well as Dean." Mary was smiling at the both of them, her hands folded over the table. "Dean is my little chef, isn't he?" "Mom!" She just shook her head as she laughed lightly, John saying his best things next, then herself.

After dinner was finished, Castiel could barely walk he was so full. He just trekked back up to Dean's room, sitting on his bed as Dean sat in the chair facing the desk. "Thank you for dinner. It really was amazing." Dean chuckling, "You've thanked me about five times now. It was my pleasure, really. I enjoy cooking and stuff." "Well maybe you should teach me. I could use more recipes for when I'm home alone." Dean licked his lips, but Castiel wasn't watching as his tongue trailed over his bottom lips longer. "How often are you alone?" Castiel shrugged, "More often than not."

Castiel's phone began to ring and he took it from his pocket. "Allo?" Balthazar was on the other side, ranting about how he needed to get home and help him with something. Overall, the phone call wasn't pleasant. Pocketing his phone, Castiel raised from Dean's bed, stretching his legs and arms before rubbing his still full stomach. "I should be getting home. This week is my last of school, so afterwards I can be around more." He smiled at Dean, who returned it easily. "I'll see you out."

The two were downstairs in just a couple minutes, Castiel getting his shoes on as he waved goodbye to the rest of the Winchesters. He was about to mount his bike when Dean grabbed his wrist. He looked to him, a bit confused about what he was doing. "Dean?" He was looking down, his face looked to be turning pink, and he tried to catch his eyes. That's when it happened, Dean lent forward just the little bit that had been separating them, placing his lips on Castiel's. It was just a simple brush, and Castiel had no idea what to do. Dean pulled away, scratching his head before nodding. "Uh, thanks for coming over, Cas. I'll see you later I guess." Dean hurried back into the house, leaving Castiel watching after him, his hand ghosting over his mouth.

Whatever had just happened played over and over into Castiel's head as he rode his bike home. What had happened? Dean had kissed him, and he couldn't seem to wrap his head around the fact that someone he'd just met a week ago had kissed him. Him, of all people! Castiel sighed, running his hand through his hair as he left his bike on his own porch, walking inside and taking his shoes off before heading upstairs to his room. Castiel was so confused, though through it all there seemed to be a small warmth emanating from his chest, and he didn't know why. What had just happened?


	7. Cell Phone

To say that Castiel slept well would be an enormous lie. He tossed and turned in bed, either too hot or too cold, and pushing his leg out from under the blanket didn't help him gain any sort of medium. Any rest he ended up getting wasn't sufficient enough to wake him up on time. It wasn't until Balthazar was knocking on and opening his door that he realized it was already seven in the morning. Cas need to take a shower still, so he convinced Balth to put together his lunch and some sort of breakfast while he did that, and met him downstairs by the front door.

"Cassie, what's going on? It isn't like you to be sleeping in," Balthazar was starting his car up, backing up out of the drive way to get onto the road. Castiel nodded, biting his bagel and drinking from a water bottle.

"I didn't sleep well last night." Balthazar glanced at him, his own hair sticking up in various ways, as though he'd woken up only minutes before Cas himself.

"Something must have happened yesterday at Dean's house. Come on, you can tell me." Blinking a few times around tears from having almost choked on his bagel, Castiel shook his head, taking a drink of water to clear his throat.

"The last time I told you anything, you posted it everywhere on the internet. I'm not having that happen again," Castiel kept from looking at his brother, who stopped as he let some people cross the street they were at.

"Come on, Castiel. I'm your only brother. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"I don't believe you."

Balthazar sighed, "Okay, no one except Anna."

"Fine," Castiel took a big breath, wiping his hands on his pants while he thought of what to say.

"I was over for dinner at Dean's house, and as I was leaving.. he sort of, kissed me," Castiel kept from looking at his brother, instead turning his gaze to outside the window where he could see his school approaching. He still had around seven minutes to make it to class on time, so he wouldn't need to rush since his was near the front. Balthazar parked in the parking lot near the school, staring at Cas.

"He what?" Castiel groaned, rubbing the palms of his hands into his eyes, trying to get out of the car.

"He kissed me, alright? I don't know what it was about, but I need to get to class, Balthazar. Please let me out." Balthazar chuckled, rolling his eyes before pressing a button to unlock Castiel's door.

"I'll be talking to Anna about restricting you to the house, Cas! It's for your own good! He might knock you up!" Castiel just walked from the door of the car and towards the school, not paying attention to what his brother had to say.

The rest of the day wasn't eventful, but Castiel had to pinch himself several times to keep himself awake during lectures, especially since he'd been speaking English so often and not French. He realized during lunch that he only had two more days of school after today, and he almost cried from joy. Castiel wanted nothing more than to sleep in until dinner, though he doubted he could even do such a thing.

By the time he was released from his last class, he was so tired he could barely stand. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he dialed his older brother's number and put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Balthazar, could you please come and pick me up?" He hated to sound so pleading, but he couldn't help it. Castiel stifled a yawn, waiting for his brother's reply.

"Sure thing, I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Thank you."

"Oh, and Anna's home, and she's coming with me," Balthazar then hung up on the phone, leaving Castiel on the sidewalk with his phone to his face, a face that happened to be growing more red by the second.

The sound of cars around him made it a bit easier to think about what was about to happen, but it didn't help that fact that it was going to whether he liked it or not. Castiel had only once talked to his siblings about boys, and that was when he came out to them not too long ago. They'd told him that it was fine, just to be careful, and Balthazar had given him condoms and lubrication for his birthday present. Anna hadn't been pleased by that, but Castiel knew they genuinely cared for their younger brother.

A car pulled up in front of him, and he could see Anna in the back seat, almost bouncing out of it as he opened the door and took his own. He didn't say anything, and he probably wouldn't for the duration by the looks on his siblings' faces. Stowing his backpack by his feet, he closed the door to the car, and Balthazar left the school, driving down the road.

"So what kind of kiss was it, Castiel?" And it began. Castiel sank lower in his seat as he thought about it, and just covered his face.

"I don't know? He just kissed me is all," he muttered, hoping they would drop it. Knowing them though, they'd probably be talking about it for the next week.

"Cas, I know you're inexperienced when it comes to any sensual pleasures at all, but you should at least know the differences between kisses. I've watched hundreds of romantic comedies with you!" Balthazar was trying to use his hands as he talked, and it wasn't working well with him trying to drive. He ended up having to swerve back into his lane, and Castiel's heart rate had gone a few beats faster from it.

"Balth, he's saying it was just like a little crush kiss. Super chaste and short. Nothing big. Right, Cas?" Anna wasn't sitting down, she was between the passenger and driver seats, looking at both of them, though she seemed to keep her eyes mostly on Castiel. He groaned and tried to push her back into her seat as they turned a corner, and he succeeding in at least getting her to fall back onto the chair.

They returned home without Cas telling them anything more than what they already knew, and he raced up to his room and locked it behind him. He needed some time away and some time to study, and his siblings would not let him do that based on how they had acted in the car. Castiel took his clothes off, suddenly feeling too warm, and just slumped onto his bed, facing the ceiling. There was no way he could get around the conversation that would arise when he would need to go out of his room to get food for dinner in only a few short hours. He could wait till then though, and in the meanwhile he could close his eyes and fail to not think about the fact that Dean had kissed him yesterday.

Then his phone made a beep from across the room. Castiel peeked open his eye, looking over to it. It was still in his pants pocket, and he groaned, getting up to fetch it and check who it was. It was Dean. Dean texted him.

 

**Dean:** hey cas my dad got us satellite phones and jess gave me your number since she knew you were busy today.

****

Dean had his cell phone number. Dean had probably told Jess, or Jess had somehow worked it out of him, about the kiss. She probably knew, and he wondered why she hadn't called him already. Castiel dropped to the ground, looking at his phone in front of him. What was he supposed to do? He could always just not reply till later, or at all, and tell Dean the next time he saw him he lost it. Castiel almost bit his tongue off. He would see Dean again eventually, which meant that they would need to talk about what happened. Just thinking about it made Cas's stomach curl. There was no way to avoid it though, so he just replied.

 

**Castiel:** Hello Dean. I'm glad your father could do that.

****

What was he supposed to say? He didn't know how he should respond, and now that he looked back at it, Castiel swore it looked as though a robot had replied for him. Cursing under his breath he put some shorts on and a shirt and unlocked his door, putting his phone in his pocket as he walked towards the stairs. His siblings were by the tv, he could tell because it was on and they seemed to be playing some sort of video game. He approached them  both, standing behind the couch as they raced small karts on the tv.

"Guys, Dean just sent me a text," he bit his lip, watching for their reaction. Balthazar immediately paused the game, looking around at Cas, a smirk on his lips. Anna was smiling from ear to ear, her face a bit pink, though Castiel suspected that was from her yelling before while she raced Balthazar. She seemed to think he cheated at every game he beat her at.

"I though he didn't have a phone he could use here, Cassie?" Balthazar was turned around in his chair now, his arms folded underneath his chin. It was hard to believe that both of them were supposed to be twenty-three.

"He didn't, but his message said that his father got him a satellite phone to use," Castiel picked his phone from his pocket and showed his siblings the message. Anna tried to grab for the device, but Castiel pulled it back to him like lightning when it beeped again in his hand.

 

**Dean:** yeah me too. i was gettin kinda bored here all alone at home. whatcha doin?

****

"Shit," Castiel slumped to the ground, folding his legs as he ran a hand through his hair. What was he doing, thinking he could talk to some American boy? He didn't look as his siblings came to sit behind him, Anna's hand on his shoulder while Balth put his head on his other one instead. They both stayed silent, as if waiting for him to text Dean back.

****

**Castiel:** I was talking to my siblings.

****

"Oh come on, Cas! That was lame. Ask him why he kissed you!" Anna pushed lightly on his shoulder, and he shook his head, pulling away from the both of them.

"I can't just ask him that... I mean, what if it was an accident or something?" Anna and Balthazar both looked at each other, then back to Cas, their faces clearly fed up with that he was giving them.

"Cas. He likes you, okay? I saw how he looked at you yesterday in the kitchen, and just so you know, I approve." Balthazar was trying to make his face look calm and nice while he said that, but Castiel could see the laughter he was hiding in his eyes.

"I approve too, Cas." Anna was smiling, and she didn't seem to be hiding any emotions about it, which Castiel wasn't sure was good or bad.

****

 

* * *

 

****

Dean was beyond nervous, and saying that was even an understatement. What had he been thinking yesterday? Kissing Cas just wasn't something he thought about, and was more just something his body forced him to do, though to say he didn't enjoy it would be a little more than a lie. The whole day he was stuck just thinking about it, thinking about how he didn't even know when he would be seeing Cas again, or if he would have to wait till Paris. If so, that would be an overly awkward car ride.

After a while of just lying in bed, Dean decided he would get some homework done, to try and get his mind off of anything else, though mostly the kiss. Shit, he still couldn't believe he had done that. It had been just so weird, and he couldn't even explain wanting to make dinner for Cas, especially the pie. It was weird, and he would need to think about that when he mind wasn't still in the shock phase. Though how long that would take, he didn't know.

Homework was boring. He had two books he needed to read for his senior English class, one of them was something he'd read before, so it was easy, and enjoyable. The other one, not so much. Dean just sifted through the pages, flipping them aimlessly, trying to pass by the time in some way. He ended up just looking at what else he had to do, and sighed. An essay about one of the books, describing the theme and how they thought it was conveyed into the book. Dean wasn't the strongest when it came to essays, but since he knew the book well, Slaughthouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, it wouldn't be all that hard. He just had to start it.

He never started it, instead he helped Sam set up their internet connection their father had looked into getting, and finally got around almost setting it up. After that was finished, Dean was on his laptop, looking through his emails and everything his friends had sent him. Jo Harvelle, a long time friend from back home, had sent him a couple emails asking different questions. She mostly wanted pictures of the boys there, and Dean replied to her after reading that one, telling her that if she wanted those she'd have to go to France herself.

He also had a few emails from a newer friend since his sophomore year of high school, Benny Lafitte. He'd moved up from Louisiana near the beginning of that year, and they grew to be friends quite easily after Benny helped him take down some people during P.E. It was a fast growing friendship, and what his email said surprised Dean. Benny was going to be visiting his grandparents, who lived in France, for most of the summer, which meant he could maybe visit him sometime if he asked his parents. He replied to Benny, telling him that they were living north of Blain for the summer, and Dean decided he could tell Benny about Cas when they met in person if that time ever came.

The morning was spent with Dean just replying to emails, that was until his father knocked on his door to come downstairs into the living room. Dean did as he was told and followed him there, Sam already sitting on the couch with his book in his hand.

"Boys, I got you a little something. Your mom and I talked about it, and since we haven't planned all that much to do here, we went and purchased some satellite phones. They're rentals, so we need to give them back before we leave, but until then they're your to use," John then gave them both a phone, and though it wasn't as updated as the one Dean had, he was thankful he had something to use to talk to his friends during the summer.

"Make sure they stay in the condition they're in now, or you're paying for 'em." With that, John went back to sitting on the reclining chair, a laptop over his legs as he typed away, Mary next to him as they planned more things out for the summer.

Dean dragged his younger brother upstairs and into his room. They would need to see what their phones could do, and so they began dialing numbers of their friends, at least Dean had before Sam reminded him that their friends would be asleep, time differences and all. "Well shit, who the hell am I supposed to talk to then?" Sam shrugged his shoulders.

"You could probably text Cas," Sam was punching in numbers on his own phone, probably putting Jess's number in. Dean sighed, he didn't know Cas's cell phone number, or if he even had one, though he probably did. Dean watched as Sam just continued to press the buttons to enter numbers.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sam eyed him for a moment, hearing his annoyed tone a bit.

"I'm putting in everybody's number. Just because I can't call them doesn't mean I can't put their numbers in for later." Dean sighed, as always, Sam was right, and so he began doing the same for his own phone.

After lunch, which consisted of some cereal with the soda they'd gotten, Mary having thought wrong in only needing two gallons of milk, Dean retired to his room again. He could probably figure out Cas's number somehow, but he felt as though that was pushing it a little. He'd freaking just kissed the guy yesterday, and he was sure any friendship they'd had before that had been beaten away to nothing. Dean gave up, groaning as he rolled out of his bed and towards the door, opening it to see that Sam's bedroom door was open already.

"Hey, Sam. Do you have Jess's number?" Dean checked his watch, though he didn't know why. It read just a bit past three. Sam turned to him from his desk, his book still in his hands.

"Yeah, why?" Dean scratched the back of his head, thinking of how to word the request he was about to make.

"Could you maybe, uh ask her for Cas's number? If she has it?" Sam nodded, and Dean wanted to smack the smirk off his face, but he knew better than to do that.

"She does, I'll text it to you right now," Sam pointed to his phone and Dean nodded, leaving the room and returning to his own. Fucking hell, he was going to have Cas's cellphone number. What was he supposed to do with it? His phone buzzed in his pocket and he picked it out, looking at the message with the digits that would be Cas's cellphone. What was he supposed to do now? Text him? It seemed a bit too easy and too hard at the same time.

Dean sighed and looked around his room and outside the window. He could think of something to text him, and text him when it was a bit later, when he was sure he'd be out of school. But hell if this wasn't going to be nerve wracking.

****

 

* * *

 

Both of his siblings smiling at him made him nervous. "I can't do it, I just can't!" Balthazar then sprang up from the couch, grabbing the phone out of his hands and running towards the other end of the room.

"You might not be able to, but I can!" Castiel was standing still, his face full of shock as he watched his brother type away on his phone. Once finished, Balthazar walked back over and handed him his phone, waving to both of them before retiring to his room with a plate full of rice and beans.

 

**Castiel:** Why did you kiss me yesterday? I liked it a lot.

****

Balking at what Balthazar had sent Dean, Castiel knelt to the ground, groaning. This wasn't going to end good, so he just quickly wrote another text.

****

**Castiel:** Sorry, my brother took my phone.

**Dean:** oh, so you didn't like it?

**Castiel:** I didn't say that.

**Dean:** so what are you saying then?

 

Castiel groaned again, and Anna just poked at him with her foot her hands in her pockets as she looked at him. "There's a plate of food for you on the island. He nodded, and watched as his sister returned her plate to the kitchen and sat back on the couch to watch the tv. "Oh, and if you ever want to talk about it, I can at least be serious. Don't trust Balth though," Anna winked and then turned her head back towards the screen.

Sighing, Castiel walked into the kitchen, taking his plate and putting it on the small table next to the counter, sitting down while looking at his phone. He needed to reply at some point, but he didn't know what. The rice and beans were still warm, so he ate some of them before deciding he needed to text Dean back.

 

**Castiel:** It was a surprise, but I did enjoy it.

****

Had he really? Castiel thought about it, his hand on his forehead, his elbow on the table as he did. It had been nice, the soft touch of lips, nothing more. It hadn't been that big of a deal, right? It seemed enormous, and well, Castiel couldn't deny that it had felt really good.

 

**Dean:** i did too. when is your last day of school?

**Castiel:** This Wednesday.

**Dean:** awesome, do you wanna come over on the 4th?

**Castiel:** Why?

****

Okay, he knew that asking why would be dumb. Cas would go over to see Dean and Sam, and maybe, just maybe kiss him again. What he didn't expect was what Dean sent him next.

****

**Dean:** its the 4th of july. you know america's independence day? we're having a little party. you could bring your siblings or something, i don't really care.

****

Castiel felt so incredibly stupid at that. Why hadn't he remembered? Then again, he'd had no reason to since he never lived in America, and had lived in Britain for the beginning of his life. He could feel the heat in his face, and Dean wasn't even there in the room.

****

**Castiel:** I'll ask them about it, and it should be fine. I'll come for sure. Thank you for inviting me.

**Dean:** tho you could come over whenever you wanted really. like the night before or something and we could just hang out.

**Castiel:** I'd like to sleep over again. That sounds nice. So I'll come over Wednesday around five, alright?

**Dean:** that sounds cool. can't wait :)

**Castiel:** How about I finish dinner and I'll call you after?

**Dean:** sounds fine to me.

****

What was even happening? There was no place in Castiel's mind that made any sort of sense. He was spending the night at Dean's house again, and yes, he was hoping he could share his bed again, but really? He just seemed to be acting so weird, and he couldn't understand why. Yes, he understood his attraction to Dean, but this didn't seem like something nice. His stomach felt weird, and he could hardly think about Dean without his face heating up. This wasn't good.

Castiel finished his dinner and cleaned off his dishes, drying them and putting them away in the cupboard before heading back upstairs to his room. He was supposed to call Dean now, but he didn't know what would come of that. What could happen if he did call? What would they even talk about? They hadn't really had a conversation about things like, well, anything before. And then Dean kissed him. Were they supposed to talk about that?

Falling back onto his bed, he closed his eyes, his phone on his chest. He had a good ten minutes before Dean thought he wasn't calling at all, and he could use those ten minutes to think about something they could talk about. Or they could just talk on the spot. Either way Castiel would be nervous, so he sat up in bed and dialed Dean's number, putting his phone to his ear while closing his eyes.

"Hello?"

"Dean?" Castiel's breath caught as he heard the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Cas. How are you?" there was a pause before Castiel could get anything coherent to come out of his mouth.

"I'm fine, just, really nervous."

"Me too."

"So what happened yesterday, to make you want to kiss me?" He knew he was maybe not saying this in the right way, but Castiel was confused and nervous, and he swore he could feel his heart thumping faster in his chest from just this conversation.

"Uh, well, honestly? I don't really know. I just had to kiss you."

Castiel could feel his face heat up at that. "What if I hadn't let you, or hadn't wanted you to?"

"I guess I never thought of that. Sorry."

"Don't apologize... I told you I liked it."

"So you'd be willing to kiss me again?"

"Dean!"

"What? Just askin'. I mean, no harm done, right?"

Castiel was biting his lip as he shook his head, his eyes closed as he covered his face with his hand. He couldn't believe Dean and what he was saying. It just seemed so different than the boy he had met two weeks ago. "I guess not, and I guess I would like to kiss you again... The first one was very nice," his face was turning red, he could feel it, and it was suddenly very warm in his room. Castiel got off his bed and opened the window, sitting on the bench in front of it.

"Yeah, it was. I uh, I liked it a lot, Cas. I like you a lot."

"I like you a lot too, Dean."

Castiel didn't know where this was going, he didn't know what they were supposed to do. Dean was leaving in two months, and Castiel would be stuck there in France thinking about some American who was thousands of miles away. Cas could then hear someone calling Dean from his end of the line, and he close his eyes, leaning forward over his knees in front of him.

"My mom's calling us to dinner. It was nice talking to you, Cas."

"Yes, it was nice talking. I'll talk to you later Dean, goodnight."

"Night, Cas."

The call ended at that, and Castiel went back to lying on his bed. He still had school tomorrow and things to study for, but he could fathom focusing on anything other than what was happening between him and the American boy who lived down the road. Castiel knew it was definitely going to be an interesting summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah i tried the whole 'enter'ing when a different person is speaking but it looks choppy to me? idk. if you like it better the other way or this way just tell me and i can fix this chapter or the others for you guys.


	8. 4th of July

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I only really did a spelling edit so if anything else is wrong or needs changed, don't be afraid to tell me! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The next two days went by quickly, and Castiel was thankful for it. Tuesday after school he called Dean and they talked until Anna told Cas that she and Balthazar were leaving for Germany, and that they would call every day around dinner. It was easy, and after Castiel called Dean again, eating dinner while he did.

They talked about everything that was possible. Castiel tried to explain the French schooling system to Dean, but he didn't seem to understand any of it. He also tried to teach Dean a few phrases in French, but that didn't go too well either, as he would say things a bit off and Castiel would laugh while Dean asked how to say them correctly.

Castiel told him about his cousins, about how they'd lived close together in England until they moved to France and his cousins moved to America. Dean asked what state, and Castiel couldn't reply because he didn't know, and so Dean began teaching Cas about the different states, mentioning nonchalantly that he was from Kansas and it was by far the best one out there. It certainly had more mentions than any other states when mentioning the Wizard of Oz. Either way, they both learned more about the other.

After school on Wednesday, Castiel was more excited to be staying the night at Dean's house than he was to be rid of school for summer. He rode his bike home as fast as he could, though it seemed to have been one of the warmer days they would have. Once home, around four as Castiel had ridden quite a bit faster than he did normally, he took off his shoes and ran upstairs. He was already sweating profusely, so he gathered things he might need at the Winchesters' house and then stripped and ran towards the shower, not stopping until he was clean and freshly shaven.

Shorts were a good thing to put on, and Castiel just grabbed a pair of khaki ones along with a t-shirt he'd gotten during Mardi Gras the year before, it seemed worn thin, though he hadn't really worn it all that much that he could remember. He pulled it on anyways and looked around, wondering what he could possibly need. That was when he heard his phone ringing and he rushed, and almost fell over in the process, to pick it up.

"Hello?" He already knew who it was, so he didn't know why he was saying that. It must have been more habit than anything.

"Hey Cas, when're you coming over?"

"As soon as I know what I need to bring. Um, do I need to bring any food? I could make something real quick," Castiel bit at his lip, his free hand going over the back of his neck.

"Nah, we have enough, and you can help me cook everything for tomorrow. Just get over here quick so I can show you something."

"I'll be over there in around an hour. Okay?"

"Alright, can't wait to see you."

"Me either, see you soon, Dean." Castiel then hung up, a smile wide on his face as he kept himself from jumping for joy. He was going back to Dean's house, and he was excited he'd made plans for the summer. It wasn't often he was able to, staying home in case his parents came back, as they usually did for a week or two during the summer. It was always the holidays they tried to stay around longer, since they knew Castiel thrived with his own family.

Castiel packed his headphones and his notebook, along with some pencils just in case. He put a spare shirt and pair of shorts into a bag as well, looking around his room for something else he might need for his overnight stay. It wasn't like he would be doing anything other than hanging out with the brothers, so he wouldn't need much, but Castiel felt like he was forgetting something. Giving up, Castiel turned the light off in his room, his bag over his shoulder, closing the door behind him. He climbed down the stairs and grabbed an apple from the refrigerator before grabbing a water bottle and putting on his shoes.

His bag in the basket of his bike, Castiel rode his bike down the road, one hand aiding him with the apple, the other steering his bike. He threw the core into the field between the houses and pulled up his water bottle, taking a nice long drink before putting it back and focusing on where he was riding to. Dark clouds seemed to be moving in quite fast as he approached the other house and he hoped they would pass by quickly. Though by their looks, and how far they seemed to stretch, that didn't seem too likely, and meant they'd better get prepared for a thunderstorm at the worst.

He rode up to the porch, stopping himself with his feet and picking up his bike to store on the porch. Castiel made sure his hair was in some semblance of order and exhaled, holding the strap of his bag as he rung the doorbell. There was a sudden thump, and Castiel looked around, and through the window to see what it could have been. He noticed the van that had been in front of the house last time was gone, which most likely meant that Mary and John were out shopping or some other thing. Castiel waited patiently, wondering why it was taking so long for the door to be answered.

His question was put to rest as the door swung open to reveal Dean holding a towel above his waist. "Sorry, Cas. I was in the shower, and my folks just left ten minutes ago with Sam to get more food for tomorrow, and, uh, well I'm rambling on now, aren't I? Just.. just come in," Dean's voice grew quiet near the end and Castiel tried to not have his eyes linger on the shape of Dean's chest.

He followed him upstairs, because Dean later said to just drop his things off in his room before he changed. Castiel would let his gaze travel down the expanse of Dean's broad back, and he could feel the heat slowly rise to his cheeks as he spotted the freckles on his shoulders. Castiel breathed deeply upon entering Dean's room, smiling bigger than he had at the thought of even being here again.

"So, you can just sit over there, I just gotta pull some boxers on," Dean motioned towards the bed, and Castiel knew his face must have been red. "Don't look." Castiel sat down and covered his eyes for a second, and let himself look once. The view of Dean's ass that Castiel had gotten that day would be the highlight of his teenage life.

Dean was dressed soon enough and seemed to be putting together a bundle all of his own, with blankets and two pillows from his bed in it. "Dean, what're you doing?"

"We're sleeping out in that tree house tonight, Cas."

"Dean! We can't! Didn't you see the clouds outside? The rain will start in an hour at least."

"And my parents will be home by then, and we will have dropped off the bundles and be home by then. Come on, Cas. It'll be an adventure."

Castiel could not believe what Dean was telling him. Spending the night in the treehouse did seem rather interesting, and something hot sparked through Cas at the thought of it being so dangerous to be sleeping out there. He sighed and nodded his head, helping Dean put the bundles together. They made sure they had everything they needed, and Dean held the bundles while Cas held a small cooler filled with snacks and cans of soda and iced tea. Once they were ready, they began walking back towards the edge of the property, and the forest.

Checking his phone every couple minutes, to make sure that they weren't gone that long, Castiel tracked their way to the tree house, making a mental map of how to get back, and the fastest way to return there later in the night. Dean didn't talk much, and so neither did Castiel, both focusing on moving as fast as possible. Once inside the forest things began to get creepier, there were small noises that weren't around their houses, like that of breaking twigs, or small birds, and animals moving around just out of sight. Castiel sighed with relief as they finally reached the tree house almost a half hour later. The two boys climbed the steps carefully, trying not to let anything fall as they did. They got their things situated, Dean put both pillows on the cot, and just moved it so it would be resting on the ground rather than a few inches off.

"Dean, we should be getting back," Castiel was looking through the small window out of the forest, and then back to Dean who nodded and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Just let me take a small breather. We're gonna be here  tonight, and I want to make sure everything's ready, because we're gonna be exhausted."

"From doing what?"

"Sammy said they found some board games, and that hide and seek wasn't an option."

"Oh, well, we should get back. They could be home at any time, right?" Castiel sat on the ground against the wall, his legs crossed as he looked at Dean.

"Yeah. Come on," Dean smiled towards Cas before lowering himself down the ladder. The two then began their journey back home. When they approached the edge of the forest facing Dean's house, the rain started. It poured down onto them, the trees doing little to block any of it.

"Dean! We'll get soaked, and sick, we need to hurry back." Castiel was rubbing at his arms as they stood under the little patch of leaves that were shielding them.

"I'll race you," Dean smiled and rubbed Castiel's head, taking off from there. Castiel watched after him for a second, his mouth gaping before he took off too, swinging his arms wide as he ran after him.

"Dean! Slow down!"

"No way, slow poke! I'm gonna win!" Castiel groaned, running faster to catch up with him. They made it all the way home, their breathing labored as they quickly entered the house, both soaking wet. Dean leaned against the wall next to the door, while Castiel leaned against the kitchen counter behind him. Both were smiling as they tried to catch their breath, and Castiel couldn't help but notice the gleam in Dean's eyes. When they started breathing normally again, Castiel's cheeks were burning, and his hair was matted to his forehead, dripping down onto his nose.

"You know, you look kinda cute all wet like that," Dean smirked as he said it, and Castiel swallowed thickly. He couldn't get anything out, he couldn't say anything back to that. Dean chuckled a bit and took half a step forward, his hand going to bring Castiel's chin closer before tilting just so to slot their mouths together in a small kiss.

Cas couldn't say he was surprised, and that he hadn't been thinking of that too, because he had been, and he was glad that Dean initiated it, because he would have been to scared to do that. But now that they were kissing, and Castiel didn't move away, he moved his hands to the back of Dean's neck, trying to deepen the kiss that had started out too small. Dean made a muffled sound of surprise, but he wasn't moving away, instead moving his hands to Cas's waist. When they did pull apart, Dean was smiling, his face pink with the freckles standing out.

"That was nice," Castiel bit his lip, avoiding Dean's gaze just a bit, instead looking at where his neck joined his chest. He could feel the weight of Dean's hands on him, and it felt good, so he kept his hands where the were.

"Hey Cas?"

"Yes?" He looked back up to Dean, and saw how water was dripping down his head and onto his eyelids and cheeks.

"Are you any good at French kissing?"

Castiel rolled his eyes, leaning forward just enough to place a small kiss on Dean's lips before pulling away. "All my kissing is French kissing, Dean." Dean smiled, shaking his head at that, Castiel moving away to find a bathroom and some towels.

The front door opened as they were about to climb the stairs, and they looked through the banister to see Sam walking in with bags in his hands, Mary and John not too far behind him. "Hey, Cas!"

"Hello Sam."

Sam put his bags down in the kitchen, walking back to them. "Why are you all soaked? Were you playing in the rain?"

"What's it to you?" Dean was playing with him, Castiel could tell by the way Sam rolled his eyes.

"Whatever jerk, let me get by," Sam moved Dean out of the way, his older brother smiling after him.

"Let's go get some towels and some dry clothes," Dean then led Castiel up towards the bathroom. They found two towels there, both white and with some fancy embroidering along the bottom, and then walked across back to Dean's room, closing the door behind them.

"Dean, I only brought one change of clothes, and those were for tomorrow," Castiel looked through his bag, and he was right. He should have packed more clothes in case, but how was he to know Dean would drag him into the forest? Castiel sighed, taking his shorts and shirt off to dry himself. He was then his in the face by a pair of boxers.

"Put those on, you don't wanna get sick from wearing cold and wet underwear, and you can wear some of mine. I know I brought a lot over, and I just did a load of wash," Dean smiled at him, taking his own clothes off and turning away when he pulled off his boxers. Castiel stood and turned around as well, pulling his wet boxer briefs off, scrunching them down to his ankles and shivering at the coolness of the air in the room. He dried his legs more and pulled the boxers up, only for them to fall and hang loosely on his hips.

"Dean, I think these are a bit too big," Castiel turned to see Dean putting his shirt on, another shirt and a pair of sweats in his other hand. He looked up and down Castiel, handing him the clothes.

"You're fine. Unless you wanna go borrow some from Sam. Hasn't even grown into his own yet. Plus, you look good in them."

Castiel blushed at that, turning back around to put his borrowed clothes on. The shirt was big as well, and seemed well worn. The sweats hung almost as low as the boxers, but luckily the shirt covered the top of both. He suddenly felt arms around his waist, turning him around, lips on his almost immediately. Blinking a bit before realizing what was happening, Castiel smiled, his hands going to Dean's, which had rested on his cheeks.

"I really like kissin' you."

"I really like kissing you, too."

Another short kiss, and then someone was knocking on the door. Dean and Castiel separated instantly, the door opening to show Sam who just looked between the two of them.

"Dinner's ready."

"Okay, we'll be down in a sec." Dean sighed once Sam closed the door, his hand over his heart before looking back to Cas with a small grin. He grabbed his hand and gestured towards the door, basically pulling him along as the headed downstairs.

The Winchesters didn't always eat at the table it seemed. They were currently sitting around the TV, all with trays with their food, which happened to be a rather nice lasagna Castiel hadn't smelled from the kitchen. Castiel was sitting next to Dean on the loveseat, Sam on the edge of the other next to Dean. They all ate while they watched a movie, something Castiel hadn't seen yet, mostly because he didn't frequent theaters and he was always busy with his gardening or school.

"What's this called again?" Dean almost groaned at the question, and Cas shrunk back a little as he watched.

"It's called The Incredible Hulk. I know it isn't that good, but we'll watch Captain America next."

"Why are we watching movies about superheroes?"

"Because Iron Man 3 came out in May, and we're fixing to watch it after we've seen everything else. You can't just watch it by itself man, you gotta watch the whole set."

Castiel nodded, not really understanding. "Why don't we just watch the two previous Iron Man movies?"

Both Sam and Dean groaned at this. "Because! It has to do with the Avengers, and you have to watch all the movies before the Avengers before watching Iron Man 3," Sam answered that time, and Castiel just nodded, not really paying any attention to what was happening in the movie.

John was asleep in his seat, Mary walking back from the kitchen from taking their plates and cups, the movie still playing while it got darker outside. When the movie finally ended, Castiel rubbed his eyes, almost as if he were waking up from a nap.

"Okay boys, I think we have enough time for one round of Clue."

"I call Mr. Green! Cas, who do you wanna be?"

"I'll be Professor Plum," Castiel watched as Mary brought over the small coffee table and placed the board on the table, holding the different pieces. She handed Professor Plum to Castiel, and Mr. Green to Dean.

"But I'm always Professor Plum," Sam interjected.

"Sam, come on, he's a guest."

"I don't really think he's a guest anymore, Dean."

Castiel's eyes went wide, and he looked to Sam, who just continued to stare at Dean. Dean narrowed his eyes at his brother, and Castiel just tossed the Professor over to him.

"I can be Ms. White."

"Cas, that's a girl," Dean sighed, running his hand over his head.

"I know, and there's only three men in this, and four of us, so I'll stick it up and be a woman. She's the maid, and everyone knows the maids are the best murderers."

Dean stared at him, a grin cracking over his face. John then took Colonel Mustard, and Mary took Mrs. Peacock. They placed their markers on the board and got started with their game.

It lasted almost two hours, and Castiel had played that game before, so he didn't understand how they had gotten it to last that long. It might have been that he couldn't help but laugh at the jokes and stories they all told while they tried to decipher who murdered the host. Sam ended up winning, and the murderer had been Mrs. White. The game was put away as they quieted their laughter, the family tired from a long day. Mary and John retreated to their room on the first floor while the Sam, Dean, and Castiel climbed the stairs.

Upon entering Dean's room, the door closing behind them, Dean moved to start looking for something within the closet.

"What are you looking for?"

"A flashlight, and an umbrella. It's still raining hard as fuck out there, and we won't be able to see a thing." Castiel nodded at that, aiding in his search. They ended up only finding a rather powerful book light that Dean said must have been put into his bad on accident, since he didn't have one and Sam had brought three. They didn't find an umbrella, and so Castiel pulled out his trench coat, at least he would have had he brought it. He knew he'd been forgetting something.

"We can't just walk out there. We'll get sick for sure. Dean, maybe we could go another night. I could meet you there some night, just not when it's raining." Castiel was disappointed, and it was easy to see that Dean was too.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best. Well, then let's get to bed then," Dean ran his hand over Castiel's head, walking over his bed before lying down. He patted the bed, moving over so there would be enough room for Cas. He turned off the light, placing his phone on the desk and moved to get under the covers, facing Dean with their heads on the pillows Dean hadn't put out in the tree house.

"You could stay over tomorrow night," Dean finally broke the small silence that had come between them, and Castiel nodded.

"I could."

"Uh, do you want to?"

"Yes, I would like to very much," Castiel moved towards Dean, placing a small kiss on his lips before turning over to get comfortable. "Good night, Dean." He then moved his arm under the pillow, closing his eyes to try and sleep.

"Night, Cas." Dean smiled, and he moved closer to Cas, pressing his lips to the top of his head before moving to get in a more comfortable position too.

 

* * *

 

When Dean woke up the next morning, he was really well rested. Like, that had been one of the best night's sleep he'd gotten in a while. He'd already replaced the lavender in his pillowcase the day before, so that could have been it. But upon opening his eyes, he saw Cas, right there. The other boy was practically leaning into him, his breath going out in small puffs through his nose and onto Dean's arm. He moved so his arm would be around Cas, bringing him closer, his chin resting on the crown of Cas's head. And through all that, Castiel only moved closer.

The sun began to peek through his curtains, and he suddenly wished he'd closed them all the way the night before. He didn't worry about it, and instead, tried to get back to sleep, because he was beyond comfy, and Cas didn't seem as though he would be waking up anytime soon. It wasn't long before Dean felt his eyelids growing heavy, and he sunk back into a comfortable doze.

It was the click of a button that woke the two up next time, and Castiel seemed to see where he'd been, and almost leaped off the bed, Dean just sitting up and rubbing his eyes to see Sam running out of the room.

"Sam! I'm gonna kill you!" He yelled after him, getting out of bed so quickly he almost tripped over the blanket as he did, leaving Cas behind him as he ran out the door of his bedroom.

"Dean, wait!"

Dean did a double take, standing on above the staircase, looking back as Cas walked from his bedroom.

"What?"

"I just.. go easy on Sam. He is your brother."

"Yeah, and my brother's gonna get a pounding if doesn't delete that picture."

"Dean."

Dean exhaled through his nose, looking back down the stairs, and finally closing his eyes. Castiel smiled and walked over to him, lifting his head a bit to kiss him lightly before heading down the stairs. Dean followed after him, a smile already spreading on his face from just that.

They walked downstairs and towards the dining room, where the smell of several different breakfast items permeated the air. Castiel took the seat next to Dean, his eyes skimming over the table to see what had been prepared. There were eggs, hash-browns, bacon, pancakes that seemed to have chocolate chips in them, and orange juice. Overall a very hearty breakfast was in front of them. Dean saw as Castiel smiled towards everyone, even Sam, who seemed to be keeping the grin on his face.

"Alright, let's say grace," Mary bowed her head and continued to bless the meal, passing food around after. They all filled their plates, and after they had, Mary told them that this was a brunch, and that dinner would be at three, since it was already past ten in the morning. They finished their meal, Castiel asking about the things they'd do that day, and Dean answering with simply more movies they needed to watch.

"We're watching Captain America, Cas. It's the fourth of July."

"Could we watch it in your room? I feel really cold," Castiel was rubbing at his arms, and Dean immediately regretted running through the rain the other day. He put his arm around Cas's shoulder, keeping a small smile on his face as he nodded.

"Hey Sam, you should come up and watch with us," Castiel smiled towards the younger brother, who didn't look as if he was interested in doing anything with them ever. "Sam, come on up, I need to ask you a favor." Sam sighed and nodded, following them upstairs.

Dean entered his room, letting Cas ask whatever it was of Sam. He got his laptop out and the small stand he had for it to keep it off the blankets, and get the movie ready. Captain America was waiting for Castiel to return, and when he did he had a small smile on his face.

"What'd you ask him?"

"I didn't ask him anything. I gave him some information."

"What kind of information?" Dean was a bit curious as to what Cas was doing, his eyebrow raising just a little.

"About what Jessica's favorite type of dessert is, and things she likes to be told," Castiel motioned for Dean to go on the bed, and he did, holding the stand up until both he and Castiel were under the blankets and the stand was on both of them.

"So he's not gonna show my parents the picture?"

"I persuaded him to wait until we've told them... Though I'm not sure what we'd tell," Castiel leaned back onto his pillow, sighing. "I'm not entirely sure what we're doing, Dean." Dean took a large breath, wrapping his arm around Castiel and bringing him closer.

"Neither am I, but we can figure it out eventually. Let's just watch a movie, alright?"

"Alright, Dean. Let's watch Captain America."

The two of them did just that, Dean not really moving his arm the entire time of the movie until Sam knocked on to tell him Jessica was there and that they were gonna start playing a game in an hour if they wanted to join. Dean told him they would, they were almost finished with the movie anyways, and his brother left. Castiel didn't seem too impressed by the movie, and no matter what Dean said he couldn't figure out what would curb him over to the superhero's feet.

They got out of bed, and Dean saw as Cas stretched in front of the door, stifling a yawn while he covered his mouth with the back of his hand. He hadn't noticed that he'd handed Cas his Zeppelin shirt, but it looked nice on him, the neck showing the tip of his collarbone. It was overall a weird experience to see Cas in nothing but Dean's clothes, and he liked it, probably more than he should. Dean moved forward a bit, closing the door before taking cradling Cas's face in his hands and kissing him gently, walking him back till they hit the door. Dean's hand moved to be behind Cas's neck, the other moving to his back to pull him in closer.

Again, a knock on the door separated them, and they walked out, joining Sam and Jessica in the front room to play a round of Life. Dean grabbed the green car, and since Castiel said he hadn't played Life before, he shared with Cas, to show him how to do it. Though he was mostly thinking that this way they could get married and not think twice about it, not that he was really thinking of ever marrying Cas, that would be ridiculous. He was just a summer fling, that was all it could be.

They continued with their game, and as they furthered, and after Castiel placed another man in the green car to be for him when they hit the marriage space, they picked up another card.

"What's it say, Dean?" Castiel was trying to lean over Dean's shoulder, to get a glimpse at the card he'd just pulled for them, but Dean was kind of scared because of what it said.

"We're having twins."

"But we already have two children."

"I know, Cas. We're having more kids anyways. What do you want? Two boys or two girls? It says identical."

"Let's have two girls. We already have a boy and a girl."

"Cas, three girls is a lot of work."

"Yes, but they would have your eyes and your freckles."

Dean almost choked on his drink at that, and nodded, "Okay. Two girls, then." He put two of the little pink people into the car, and looked at how Sam and Jess were both ahead of them. They were both married, and Sam only had one child while Jess had two boys. It made him kind of uncomfortable to know that he and Cas had four children, even if it was a game.

They continued to play until Dean and Cas finally made it to Millionaire Acres before Sam and Jess, who had both gotten help back by damages to their house and having to pay extra money. Once Dean had moved the car there, he couldn't really believe it, and he turned to Cas, grabbing his face and pulling him forward for a kiss. He didn't think about the fact that Sam and Jess were right there, or that his parents could, and actually did walk into the room.

Castiel pulled away slowly, his cheeks bright red, and Dean could tell his must have been too, and he looked around to see Mary smiling at both of them, a hand almost covering her mouth, and John just pretending to look somewhere else. Jess and Sam were smirking and he just swallowed before saying anything. "Hey, we won!" He tried to laugh a little, and the others joined in, and no one asked questions.

It dinner time when they finished their game, and so they headed to the kitchen, where everything was lying on the counter. There was corn on the cob, though Dean didn't know where they'd managed to get that, hot dogs, chips, and dressings. There were two pies sitting on the island and some whipped cream was too the side, though Mary said specifically that it would be served after they watched the parade online. They gathered around John as he looked up the video, Cas standing in front of Dean, who put his hands on his waist, just resting them there.

The online video wasn't a very good quality, but they saw as the floats went down, and Dean whistled when the cheerleaders from several different schools around Kansas did their, Cas elbowing him in the ribs while he did so. They finished watching the parade, which didn't seem to last as long as the year before, and they continued to eat, Dean sitting outside with Cas, the rain far gone and the sun shining brightly down on them. Pie was served soon enough, and there was apple and cherry to pick from. Dean got a piece of apple for himself, a scoop of ice cream instead of whipped cream, and a piece of cherry with whipped cream for Cas. They sat on the edge of the porch, swinging their legs, not talking as they ate their dessert. By the end, everyone was so full they could hardly stand, let alone play another game, so a movie went into the DVD player and they watched Thor.

Cas fell asleep during the middle of the movie, and so Dean let him use his chest as a pillow, his arm around his shoulder as he continued to watch the movie. Dean could see Sam and Jess fighting to stay away, while his mom busied herself with her notebook for their plans for the summer. John was sound asleep too, and Dean thought about this situation, and to him it was basically perfect.

When the movie ended, Dean gently shook Castiel awake, telling him that he should go use the bathroom before watching another movie, and so he did just that. Dean watched after him, only to be called for from the kitchen by his mother. He walked after her and saw her leaning on the island, flipping through the notebook.

"Yeah, mom?"

"Dean, how long have you been with Castiel?"

Dean blinked a few times, his cheeks growing pink as he tried to think of an answer. "Uh, well, we aren't really going out. I never asked him really, and uh well. I guess Monday?" Mary nodded, glancing at him before returning her gaze to the notebook.

"You know we'll only be here till the middle of August, right Dean?"

"Yeah. What're you trying to get at, mom?"

Mary looked at him, sighing with eyes that seemed to be almost teary. "I just don't want you to have to leave him and be sad about it, Dean. You two seem really close, and leaving could change that."

"Mom, it will change it. There's no stoppin' that."

"Just, be careful is all I'm trying to say. Okay, Dean? You could do that for me?"

"Of course, Mom. Now come on, we're gonna watch Iron Man 2." The talk unsettled Dean to say the least, and when he walked back into the living room to see Cas lounging on the couch checking his phone, he gulped and rubbed his hand over his face. What was he doing? He was leaving, and he was basically falling in love, okay maybe not love but strong like, with this dude he'd met only like two weeks ago. It made no sense! He would be leaving, and Cas knew that, so why was he even going along with it? Dean shook his head, walking back over to Cas, a smile on his face. He would enjoy it while it lasted, and maybe, just maybe something could come out of it in the end. 

 

* * *

 

By the time everyone was heading to bed, Dean wanted to just crash in his own bed too, but he also really wanted to stick to his plan on sleeping in the tree house. Castiel didn't care, he'd gotten the okay to sleep over again, and so he just wanted to go to bed before midnight. They got the reading light out again, and made sure they had good batteries before putting a blanket over both of them and sneaking down the stairs and out the back door.

It was a quiet night, and Dean marveled at the stars that dotted the sky. They stayed close, in order to stay warmer as they walked through the long grass towards the forest. It didn't take as long to get there, and Castiel handed the light to Dean as they approached the tree house.

"Point it at the opening," he squinted as Dean pointed towards where he wanted, holding the blanket around his shoulders. Castiel climbed the wooden steps and then motioned for Dean to throw the blanket up, which he did along with the light. Once he was up, after almost having fallen twice from the light in his eyes as Castiel pointed it down so he could see, he smiled. He and Castiel were alone and wouldn't be disturbed, and they could just sleep in peace.

"Let's get to bed, huh?" Dean stood up,stretching before closing the hatch door that led down from the tree house. Castiel nodded, yawning before rubbing his eyes and making sure all the blankets and pillows were in place. He laid down and motioned for Dean to join, turning around and scooting over. Dean laid down behind him, bringing the covers over their shoulders, his arm going around Cas's waist.

"Night, Cas," Dean kissed the back of his ear, then the back of his neck.

"Dean, wait." Castiel turned over, facing him now. "What are we doing?"

"Do we really need to talk about this, Cas?"

"Yes, Dean. I don't want to just be some... some fling over the summer. I-I really care about you." Cas looked away from Dean, closing his eyes for a second before returning to look back at him.

"I don't want it to be that either, Cas, but what can we do? I'm going home in August, and you can't come with me, and I can't stay here." Castiel nodded, and Dean just kissed him lightly, trying to keep him quiet. Dean smiled at him, and Castiel just stared back.

"We will need to talk about it eventually, Dean."

"I know, I know. But we still have over a month till I leave, so can we please get to sleep? I'm beat." Castiel nodded, turning back the other way so Dean could pull his back flush against his chest.

"I'll figure something out, alright, Cas?"

"Alright, Dean." Castiel placed his hand over Dean's squeezing it gently, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Cas."


	9. Caught

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the verses are basically easy to look up you just put in the address and you have a translation. thank you for reading!

Dean was warm, that was the first thing that registered in his mind as he began to crawl out of a deep slumber. He was warm and comfortable and there was a heat in his chest that felt as though it couldn't be dampened. He smiled, turning till he opened his eyes to see Cas balled up next to him. He was still out, and Dean couldn't help but pull him closer, to which Cas latched onto him, almost as if he was too cold. Dean kissed his head and closed his eyes again, that was until he noticed how light it was outside.

Cas seemed to notice when Dean tensed, moving his head to face him, blinking through blurry eyes.

"What is it, Dean?" He stifled a yawn, and Dean tried to smile back as he sat up in bed.

"Uh, it's light out. That means we should probably head back soon," Dean began to get out of bed, but Castiel pulled him back down.

"We can leave later. It's fine. I need another hour or two of sleep."

"Cas, they'll be worried, and we weren't supposed to let them know about us sleepin' out here."

Castiel groaned, looking at Dean from his pillow, a frown set in his face. He closed his eyes and sighed, pulling Dean down more until they were kissing again. Dean smiled through it, he knew Cas would get up to go back home, and he was fine with what he wanted to do before that. Then Cas bit slightly down on his bottom lip and Dean couldn't stop a groan from escaping his mouth, his arms trembling above Cas.

"Dean?"

"Cas, don't stop." Dean moved to kiss him deeper, and he moved to be holding himself above Cas, kissing him as fiercely as he could from that position. Castiel was leaning up to meet him, one hand on his neck, the other keeping him held up as they continued to move their mouths together. Dean could feel his breath move into Castiel, sharing the same air as they traded kisses over and over until Dean could barely stand the heat that was welling in his chest.

"We should leave, uh, go home." Castiel nodded underneath him, his eyes glancing to and from his lips to his eyes. They both got up, and after getting a little air, they made sure they had everything they could carry down the ladder, the pillows and blankets thrown onto the forest floor. Then they began walking back to Dean's house, moving as briskly as they could to get there before anyone woke up.

 

* * *

 

It was a long walk, and they didn't try to talk, their faces still rosy from what happened in the tree house. They finally came to the long grass on the edge of the forest, and could barely see Dean's house in the distance.

"We're almost there, Cas. Then we can have breakfast."

"I need to get home though... I should probably do some chores."

"Can't Anna or Balthazar do them?"

Castiel bit his lip, "They're gone until the 21st."

"What?" Dean stopped, grabbing Cas's arm to look at him. Castiel didn't look him in the eye, his gaze resting on the grass and on his shoes.

"They're gone till the 21st, they're with my parents. They have been since Tuesday." Castiel pulled his arm from Dean's hand, continuing his trek back to the house. Dean followed him silently, and Castiel knew he was thinking of something.

"Well, maybe I can spend the night at your house," Dean suggested, though it was barely above a whisper, Castiel straining to have to hear him. Castiel glanced back at him, and bit his lip as they continued through the high grass. They walked to the house and thankfully no one was up, or at least it didn't seem like it. Castiel and Dean walked as slowly and quietly as they could up the stairs, only to hear someone clearing their throat from the bottom of them.

"Dean Madison Winchester. Where were you this morning?"

"Madison?" Castiel covered his laugh, his hand over his mouth as he tried to conceal how amused he was by that. Dean shot him a look before placing his stuff down and rubbing his hands on his pants. He didn't want to meet his mother's eyes, Castiel could tell.

"Well?"

"Uh, we were sleeping in a tree house."

"What tree house?"

"There's a tree house in the forest. That's where I was sleeping the other day."

"Young man, you put everything away, and then come straight down here into the dining room."

"Yes, ma'am." Dean gulped, and Cas could tell it was way beyond time he went home. The two of them picked up the things they'd taken to the forest before Mary began speaking again.

"Castiel, you let Dean do that. You should come down here too."

And so with that, Castiel brushed the side of Dean's arm lightly before descending the stairs towards where Mary was. He glanced back up to see just a few things at the top of the staircase, Dean no longer in sight. He could feel the heat in his cheeks as he followed Dean's mother into the dining room, only to see John sitting at the head of the table with a laptop in front of him and a cup of coffee next to that. Mary gestured for Cast to take a seat, and he did, his hands under his legs as he stared at the table.

They had been caught, and he had been so sure, well Dean had been sure and his confidence just made Cas feel so safe and secure about it; Cas thought they would never get caught. Now that they were, he didn't know what to think. It was when Dean came into the dining room that he really felt stupid. Dean still looked freshly woken and kissed, and if that was anything to go by, he probably did too. Dean took the seat opposite of Castiel and Mary went to stand beside John, who closed the top of his laptop, taking a rather large drink of his coffee.

"Boys, what's goin' on?"

Castiel and Dean looked to each other at the same time, and Castiel shook his head, he wasn't going to say anything. Dean had started the whole thing anyways, so he should be the one to tell his parents. They didn't even know what they were doing, so what was there to really tell?

"Well uh, Cas and I, we sorta like each other." Dean was fidgeting with his hands under the table, and Cas suddenly felt his nudge him with his foot.

"That's obvious, Dean. What was up with leaving the house to go into the forest? It's not safe," John was either tired, or annoyed, maybe there was even a possibility of both. Castiel just scratched behind his ear, his face bright red as he tried to think of something.

"It was just an adventure, Mister Winchester. We didn't do anything but sleep on the cot there. We came back as soon as we woke," Castiel felt Dean nudge him again with his foot under the table, and he glanced to see Dean slowly mouthing 'thank you', though hopefully not noticeable enough for his parents.

"You had better hoped you hadn't. Now just stop foolin' around. If you wanna go and sleep out in the forest in the tree house, at least tell someone, so that way we at least know where you are. Alright?"

"Yes sir."

"Yes, Mister Winchester."

John nodded his head, "Alright, now get back up to bed it's too early for this shit."

"John," Mary sighed, her hand touching her temple.

"It's true!"

"That doesn't mean cuss, dear."

"They cuss too, don't tell me you don't hear it," John was both; he was both tired and annoyed, it was apparent. The two adults continued to bicker as Cas and Dean quickly left, Dean taking Cas's hand as they hurried up the stairs and into his room.

"Cas, that was too close."

"Dean, it wasn't close. We got caught."

"Well, at least we didn't get in trouble, right?"

"Right," Castiel gave in, smiling at Dean, who face mirrored his in seconds before he moved in to place a small kiss on his lips. They moved onto the bed, just relaxing into the mattress, saying nothing and thinking about what had just happened.

"Dean, are we.. dating?" At that Dean turned over from looking at the ceiling, one arm under his pillow. He shrugged, looking all over Castiel's face. Cas could feel his gaze, and he smiled a small smile, moving forward just a bit to kiss him lightly.

"I guess. Hey Cas,uh,  wanna be my boyfriend?"

"I would greatly enjoy being your boyfriend." Dean kissed him again at that, smiles big on both of the faces.

They didn't know what to do after that. They could kiss all they wanted, they knew that, but what were they to do to pass the time? They had until next Thursday to do whatever they wanted, but what did they want to do?

"Hey Cas, could you read something in French for me?" Dean was sitting up against the wall, Cas's head in his lap as he played with his hair. Cas was on his phone, browsing through his emails to see if he had gotten anything from Anna or Balthazar.

"Like what?"

"I don't care, You could read the Bible if you want, it doesn't really matter."

"I'll do that then. You at least know some verses right?"

"Yeah, a couple. Like John 3:16, and Psalms 23:4."

"Those are easy ones, Dean," Cas sat up, rolling his eyes at him as he looked to see if he had a Bible app on his phone. He didn't, and that was easy to remedy and so he was about to get comfortable when Dean just motioned for him to sit in front of him as he spread his legs. Cas bit his lip, moving until his back rested against Dean's chest. Dean then wrapped his arms around his waist as he looked up the verses they'd said earlier.

"I'll start with John 3:16."

"Sure thing, go ahead."

"Dieu a tant aimé le monde, qu'il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse pas, mais qu'il ait vie éternelle."

"Wow." Castiel turned his head to Dean's who had his resting on his shoulder, reading the text from the phone.

"What?"

"You sound awesome."

Castiel bit his lip, looking up the next verse. Dean kissed him behind the ear and he almost jumped clean out of his arms.

"So you're sensitive there, huh?"

"Dean, I'm going to read the next verse now. Psalms 23:4"

"Alright, go ahead," Dean sent a small puff of breath over his ear and then onto his neck, replacing it with a short kiss before resting his chin again on Castiel's shoulder.

"Même quand je marcherais par la vallée de l'ombre de la mort, je ne craindrai aucun mal; car tu es avec moi: ta houlette et ton bâton, ce sont eux qui me consolent.... Are there any more verses you'd like me to read?"

Dean stayed silent, and Castiel could feel as he moved his hands over his stomach, and he just relaxed more into Dean's arms, closing his eyes just a fraction before Dean kissed his head again.

"We should go eat breakfast."

"That's a good idea." Though neither of the moved for another minute or two, content to just stay close to one another. Castiel finally moved, locking his phone and pocketing it before removing Dean's hands from him and getting off of the bed.  He offered his hand to Dean to help him out and he took it, the two walking hand in hand till the stairs. Once there they walked down separately, Cas only a few steps behind. They both entered the kitchen, Sam already sitting at the counter waiting for Mary to pull something out of the oven. Castiel watched as a tray was pulled out, hot muffins steaming as they were cooled by the surrounding air.

"They'll be done and cooled off soon enough, boys. I made some eggs to hold you off until then," Mary smiled at them, and Castiel couldn't help but return it. He sat down next to Sam and Dean sat on the other side, in the meanwhile Mary giving them all plates of scrambled eggs and forks. She also put out some milk for them, not pouring them as she got the muffins out of their tray and onto a wire rack. Castiel poured his glass, as well as Sam and Dean's before replacing the top on the milk carton. The three of them began eating and Castiel was glad that he could at least have some home made meals while his siblings were gone.

"Hey, mom. Cas said he was home alone until the 21st. I was wondering if for a night or two I could stay over at his place. You know, to help him with chores and groceries and stuff." Dean was trying to act nonchalant, and it wasn't working. Sam was almost choking on his food from how he tried to not laugh out loud, and Mary looked up from the blueberry muffins she'd set out for them. She put two of them on each of their plates, since they weren't the biggest muffins, but neither were they small, and dusted her hands off on her apron before taking it off.

"Dean, I don't think that'd be a good idea."

"How about Sam comes over too? I mean, Cas can't stay over here the whole time. He's gotta clean and get more food for at home," Dean took a bite of his muffin and made a rather distracting sound. Castiel swallowed, taking a bite of his own before almost copying it.

"Mrs. Winchester, these are amazing."

"Thank you, Castiel. And.. I'll have to ask your father. If you boys did leave, we'd be making lots of plans without you here, and so you can't argue about it later, alright?"

"That's fine, I don't really care what you do here," Dean shrugged his shoulders, taking another bite of his muffin. Castiel could tell Dean as masking his excitement about sleeping over at his house, and he was quite happy about it as well. They continued to eat when Mary left, and Sam took a large gulp of milk before placing his glass down.

"Okay, there's one problem here, guys."

"What, Sammy?"

"What if I don't wanna go over there?" Sam took a bit of his eggs, placing his fork back on his plate as he looked to Dean.

"Sammy, Cas's house is awesome, and he's got tons of flowers. You could probably get some to give to Jess if you asked nicely," Dean winked at his brother, whose face had grown red rather quickly.

"I guess it'll be okay," Sam shrugged his shoulder, returning to eating his food as Mary walked back in with John's coffee cup.

"Your father said it was okay, but if you want to go grocery shopping, we might as well all go together, I need to pick up a couple of things for the next week," Mary got two more plates of food ready, walking out of the room with them, most likely to go and eat with John in the living room.

"So when would we go shopping?" Dean looked to Cas, finishing off one of his muffins as he did. Castiel shrugged his shoulders. He would need to go either that day or the next, and he thought about what he could do in the meantime.

"I think tomorrow would be better. I can clean the house today and take a shower and then tomorrow you could maybe pick me up on your way to the store?"

"That sounds reasonable enough, I'll make sure to tell my mom," and from that they finished their meals, placing their dishes into the sink before Dean and Cas retreated upstairs. Once they were in Dean's room, Cas began packing his things, Dean sitting on his bed as he watched.

Castiel didn't want to go quite yet, but he knew he would need to. He needed to wash his clothes, and he needed to clean his room and closet before he left with them the next week for Paris. Dean started talking about what they had planned for Paris so far, about the places they were going to stop off on the way there, and Castiel was quite excited. He'd been to Paris almost every year for the 14th, and he'd been there plenty of times to visit his parents while they were in the country. They also got their clothes shopping done there, and he rather liked being able to visit the Eiffel tower every so often, so to be able to show the city and guide others in that experience delighted him.

Castiel got his things all put together in his bag, and he then made sure he had his phone charger before looking at the clothes he was wearing. They smelled, but he knew once he got home he could change. He put his bag over his shoulder and sighed, looking to Dean who was just fidgeting with his phone in his hands.

"Call or text me when you get home, okay? So I know you're safe and all," Dean was blushing as he stood to move in front of Cas. He'd been down the road they lived on possibly hundreds of times, and Dean still worried more about him than himself, when he was practically a native. Castiel chuckled, pulling him forward by his shirt before kissing him softly. Pulling away, he nodded his head.

"I'll make sure to do that."

"Thanks, Cas," Dean kissed him again, pulses of warmth coming in the brief moment they were connected. Castiel pulled him closer for one last second, one last kiss, and then moved towards the door, Dean following after him. Castiel made his way down the hall and then the stairs, waving goodbye to Sam, Mary, and John before opening and walking through the front door. Dean followed him through that too. Cas gathered up his bike and took it down the porch towards the road, Dean standing on the last step, his hands in his pockets.

"I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll call you later for sure," Castiel smiled towards Dean as he waved, mounting his bike as he did. As soon as he kicked off he began pedaling, turning his head only once to see Dean waving back. Then Cas rode his bike down the road, towards his house, and towards many chores.

Once home twenty minutes later, sweat from the warm day was sticking his shirt to his chest, Cas locked his bike on the porch, walking inside after unlocking the door. He took his shoes off and pulled his shirt away from him, cooling himself down before taking his phone out of his pocket. It was easy to dial the number Dean had recently gotten, and soon enough he was waiting for the other boy to pick up the line.

"Hey, Cas."

"Hello, Dean. As you wanted to know, I'm home safely." Castiel smiled, leaning against the wall as he thought about it. Dean cared for him, Dean was his boyfriend, and only his boyfriend. It made a similar heat to that of when they kissed erupt in his chest, his hands almost trembling with the amount of pure emotion moving through him.

"That's good to know, Cas. I mean, what if you'd been kidnapped?"

"You'd come to rescue me, I'm sure."

"You're probably right. You should do all those chores you were talkin' about earlier. Get things done so we can just hang out when I'm over."

"I could, but I'm rather sweaty and stinky. I'll probably do them tonight."

"So, uh what're you gonna do until then?" Dean's voice cracked, and Castiel almost asked what he was getting nervous about.

"Most likely bathe. I stink a lot," at that, Castiel sniffed from under his shirt and grimaced, he stunk more than a lot.

"Well uh, you can just text me later than, I guess. Don't feel like you're botherin' me or anything."

"Dean, I'll probably text you while I take a bath, it's too warm for a shower." Dean didn't reply just yet, and Castiel wondered what was going on.

"Uh, I've gotta do homework though, so not having distractions would help. You know?" Castiel nodded to himself, walking up the stairs to his room to put his bag on his bed, pulling his clothes off to put them in his dirty clothes hamper.

"I guess. I'll talk to you later though, Dean. Alright?"

"Sure, I'd love that. Uh, have a nice bath."

"I hope your homework is enjoyable. Goodbye, Dean."

"Bye, Cas. See you tomorrow," and with that, Castiel hung up the phone, sitting on his bed as he clutched it in his hands. He had many things he needed to do before the next day, including making sure he had enough money to buy everything he would need for the future week. It meant stocking up on non-perishables and water, since he couldn't keep milk that long in the refrigerator. Castiel let that all slide from his mind as he picked up his towel and wrapped it around his waist, walking from his room to the bathroom and turning on the tub. He could relax, and so he turned the water to barely warm and put some soap in the water, watching as it made bubbles surround the top. He would relax before tomorrow, and nothing could stop him. Though the thought of Dean sleeping in his bed almost put him back on edge. Cas would need to do a lot more cleaning than he thought if he kept thinking about that.


	10. Clothes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i've done a basic spelling check, and that's it. i will eventually go through everything again when i have the motivation for it and the time.

For the rest of the day Castiel had a hard time focusing. He found himself thinking about how nice it was to wake up so close to Dean, how nice it was to just be close to him in general. It wasn't like he didn't have time for it, he had all the time he wanted until the next day to clean the house. He just hated that it took him hours to clean out his closet. It also didn't help that Dean was constantly messaging him telling him what he was doing and how he couldn't wait till they would come over the next day. Castiel took a picture of his clean closet almost four hours after he'd started the task, and Dean responded with a text saying he couldn't wait to see him in some of the clothes, especially the suspenders.

  
The bathroom was next and Castiel again sent before an after pictures, though the after picture wasn't sent until around dinner. Dean replied with saying that the bath looked nice and couldn't wait to use it. Castiel didn't reply for almost five minutes.

  
Dean then walked Castiel through the process of making pasta with a special sauce he supposedly cooked all the time, and when he finished, Castiel sent a picture of that too. Dean called after that.

  
"God, Cas. That picture makes it look so damn good." Dean sounded hungry from the other end, and Castiel licked his lips as he poured himself a glass of water, Dean on speaker.

  
"I'm not horrible at cooking. I often have to fend for myself," Castiel was washing his hands now and then moved his plate to the kitchen table with his glass, the phone just a couple inches away. He listened as Dean talked about how much he cooked for his family back home and what recipes he'd made himself for certain meals.

  
"You'll have to cook for us tomorrow and Sunday," Castiel picked up the phone, switching it off speaker as he leaned back in his hair, a smile on his face. He hadn't eaten a lot of his dinner yet, but Dean was being distracting and he needed to have his voice closer.

  
"Cas, why aren't you eating?"

"I am."

"No, you're talking, you can't talk and eat at the same time without sounding stupid. You can't multitask, man."

"I can too."

"And that's why it took you four hours to clean your closet." Castiel pouted at that, turning the phone back on speaker before placing it down and taking a forkful of pasta and eating it.

"Cas? you there?"

"I'm eating, Dean." This was said around a mouth full of pasta, Castiel intentionally putting more in his mouth before he replied. He smiled as he swallowed, taking a drink of water.

"Well, that's what you should be doing. Anyways, we'll be over there to pick you up around ten, alright?"

"That sounds fine. You'll call later, right?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Because you've got some other French boy waiting for you to call him." Castiel chuckled, putting his fork down as he picked up the phone. He could hear Dean laughing on the other side, and could practically feel his smile glowing through the connection.

"Yeah, right. Like anyone else would want me."

"That's true. You're a real pig sometimes," Castiel pushed his plate away from him, his elbows on the table.

"How would you know? You've only known me two weeks."

"Yeah, and your room's been a mess the entire time." At that Castiel could hear someone calling Dean's name from the other end of the line. Dean shouted back, returning to the call.

"I gotta go."

"I know. I'll talk to you later," Castiel felt the need to say something more, but there wasn't really something there for him to tell Dean.

"Yeah. Bye, Cas."

"Bye, Dean."

The phone call ended, Castiel placing his phone face down onto the table before looking back to his plate. It was almost seven at night and he hadn't washed his clothes yet. It seemed as though everything had dampened around him. The colors weren't as vibrant, and he wasn't as motivated to to finish his chores. He finished his dinner, placing his plate, glass and fork into the dishwasher and leaving the kitchen with his phone in his hand.

The stairs seemed to go on forever and upon entering his room he sighed. His laundry basket needed to be carried back downstairs and and put into the washing machine. Castiel first changed into shorts and a t-shirt, placing his clothes from that day into the hamper with the rest before picking it up and maneuvering through the doorway. It took a while to get down the stairs without falling, and once at the washing machine in the garage he couldn't help but groan. Not all of his clothes would fit into one load.

Waiting to put his other load in the washer, Castiel sat in front of the TV, staring at the black screen as he fidgeted with his phone. He couldn't even remember what he'd done before during the summer when he was home alone. He missed his siblings, and he missed having things to do like schoolwork. Castiel just needed to be busy.

The washer made its alarm notifying him it was done, and he went to put in his other clothes after switching the others into the dryer. After doing that, he went back to the living room, pulling his legs close to him as he looked through his phone. He had an email from his siblings saying that they would be in Paris with their parents on the 14th, and that they could all have dinner as a family, and that the Winchesters were in the reservation as well for a dinner in the Eiffel tower. Castiel couldn't really believe it, but he replied telling them that they'd be there for the seven o'clock dinner. Now all he needed to do was make sure the Winchesters knew about the plans. He dialed Dean's number, and forgot that they'd been called to dinner. though they must have been finished by then, and it wasn't like this only concerned Dean, he needed to tell the whole family, and Jessica as well since she'd be coming.

Castiel stood from the couch, dialing the number before walking over to the wall next to the garage door, his arms crossed over his chest as he listened to the ringing. The phone was picked up seconds later.

"Hello?"

"Dean, I have something to tell your family, about Paris." Castiel bit his lip, the line falling silent. He could hear Dean covering the speaker, though he couldn't hear what he was saying.

"You know, if you couldn't come, you could've just told us."

"What? Dean! Of course I can come! I just wanted to tell you that my parents made reservations at 58 Tour Eiffel, one of the restaurants in the Eiffel Tower. It's for the 14th." Castiel didn't know what had been running through Dena's head, but he realized as he heard Dean sigh, probably relaxing himself.

"Oh, well, hey, let me get my mom on the phone. You should probably tell her," Dean then moved again, and Castiel smiled to himself. Dean had been worried, and he had every right to be. They'd only be together for a short amount of time as it was, and being away from each other for days at a time seemed worse than anything Cas could think of at the moment. He heard the phone being passed off, and he could hear Mary putting the device to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mrs. Winchester. I wanted to tell you that my parents made reservations for us all at 58 Tour Eiffel for Bastille Day. I understand if you won't want to go, but my parents were being generous and thought you could have a good experience when you're in France and-"

"Castiel! That would be perfect! I was going to phone in to see if I could get one myself, but after looking at prices I knew we couldn't afford that. Would your parents be willing to pick up some of our tab?"

"Of course, they're used to paying for meals when with their employees and such. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Great, well, we'll be over to pick you up at around nine, so make sure to have a list ready for what you need. I don't want to be at the grocery store for too long."

"I'll do just that. Thank you Mrs. Winchester."

"It's no problem. It was nice talking to you Castiel, and please tell your parents thank you for me."

"I will, goodbye."

"Goodbye, dear."

Castiel bit his tongue as he waited for Dean to pick the phone back up. He heard as the phone was handed back and as Mary told them what he'd just relayed to her. It was a minute later, after he heard Dean running up the stairs, probably to his room. His suspicions were proved correct when he heard a door close and Dean lean against it.

"Hey Cas," Dean was smiling, Cas could just feel it through the phone, and of course that got him smiling.

"Hello Dean."

"Hey, I was wondering, do you have enough money to buy some kind of junk food? I'm craving chips like no other."

"I should. Anna and Balthazar make sure to give me enough if I ever needed anything," Castiel stifled a yawn. He suddenly jumped when he heard the washer go off again, but he knew he'd have to wait until the dryer was done, which happened to go off only a second later.

"What's with all the sirens?"

"I'm washing clothes, just a second, I'll be right back," Cas set the phone down and headed into the garage, taking his laundry basket and filling it with the dry clothes before moving the wet clothes into the dryer. He picked up the basket and left the garage and closed the door behind him. He picked the phone back up before he started heading up to his room to put the clothes away.

"Just point things out to me that you would want, I'll be getting myself some things, and maybe a few things for you and Sam to try while you stay over," he opened the door to his room, and placed the hamper on the ground, stretching his arms afterwards.

"Cool. Hey Cas," Dean was stifling his own yawn now, "I'm pretty beat, I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Of course, Dean. Bonne nuit." Castiel kissed the speaker and heard Dean chuckled from the other end before he kissed back.

"'Night, Cas. Sleep well." And then with that, the call ended, and Castiel sank to the floor, his phone clutched to his chest. He was overcome with happiness, a smile wide on his face as he closed his eyes and just thought about what was going on right now. He had an amazing boyfriend, he was going to be able to go to Paris on Bastille Day, and show his boyfriend's family around Paris. There was nothing that could go wrong at this point, and Castiel knew that for a fact. He only left his room again to get his other clothes, and after that, he slept rather well.

 

___________________

 

Dean couldn't keep himself from yawning as he waited for his brother and mother outside of their house. He was tired, and didn't sleep well. He'd stayed up texting Cas all night even when they both told each other they had needed to go to bed. When Sam finally came out, and his mom, they piled into the van, Dean taking shotgun, while Sam sat in the back. They drove in silence, all tired, and Mary only made a noise when she stopped in front of Cas's house.

"Dean, go get your friend," she motioned towards the house and Dean nodded, opening his door to get out and walk towards the house. Cas opened the door before he had a chance to knock on it, and he just smiled at him. Cas didn't seem like he'd gotten a very good rest either, his hair was all over the place, and his eyes seemed droopier than normal. Either way, Dean grabbed him by his shirt and kissed him long and hard before letting him go. When he did, Cas swayed on his feet, blinking with a smirk on his face.

"Good morning, Dean."

"Mornin' Cas. How'd you sleep?"

"Barely at all thanks to you," Cas was trying to look mad about it, but as they walked towards the van Dean chuckled, putting his arm around his shoulder before kissing him on the cheek.

"You're welcome." Dean smiled against his face, and opened the side door for Cas to climb in, and got back into the passenger seat. Mary looked back to Cas, a smile on her face before starting the car back up and driving off towards the closest grocery store.

"Castiel, you made sure to bring enough money? If you don't have enough we would be happy to help until you do."

"I'm sure I do, Mrs. Winchester. I have plenty of euros for just these kinds of trips." Cas was smiling from his seat in the second row, and just leaned back, his hands folded in his lap. That's when Dean looked behind him and saw what Cas was wearing.

"Are you wearing... suspenders? And girl's shoes?" Dean wasn't saying it looked bad, Cas looked great in his clothes. His suspenders were blue, and his button up shirt was tucked in; he had on blue striped shorts and really nice shoes, though Dean couldn't recall the name for them. He just kept looking back at him, Cas looking down at his clothes obviously oblivious to what Dean might be trying to point out.

"I like them, and they're just shoes. I did buy them in the men's section though, so I wouldn't think them for girls."

"Alright, well hey, you look nice," Dean smiled then turned towards his mom, who was stifling a yawn as they continued down the roads.  
It took twenty minutes to get to the grocery store, and by the time they were there they were awake. Dean got out from the passenger side and smiled as Cas got out on the same. He pulled him forward just a bit for a small kiss before following his mother into the store. They place seemed almost like it could belong in America, except everything was in French, which he should have expected. Dean took a basket from beside the door and pulled on Cas's sleeve as he led him away.

"Ma, we're gonna go and get some things for his house. We'll meet at the check out station."

"Alright, you have an hour," Mary waved to both of them, and Sam only shook his head before they headed down a different aisle. Dean smiled after them then looked to Cas, who was beginning down the produce.

There was one thing Dean liked about food, everywhere fruits and vegetables looked practically the same. It was easy for him to pick out some apples, and Cas got some pears, putting them in their basket before moving on. Cas also grabbed some broccoli, and tomatoes. They stayed silent almost, and Dean only began humming music when Cas was looking through the cheeses.

"So what're we gonna get junk food wise?"

"Junk food?" Cas turned his head from where he was looking at bread, and Dean nodded.

"We're gonna be by ourselves, right? Might as well get something we, or at least you, don't usually have." Dean nodded, and looked around.

"Do you guys have those brownie mixes , or cake mixes?" Dean was looking at the different breads down the aisle, and looked back to Cas, who had pulled out some potato bread.

"Dean, go and get a baguette, I want dinner to be good tonight," Cas hadn't even heard his question, and so Dean just rolled his eyes and did as he was told. He walked down to the bakery section, and looked around for what he needed. He knew what Cas meant, it was the French bread they had back home, and so it was easy to spot it out. There was a sign above the glass casing that stated that all of it was fresh, and Dean smiled at that. Fresh bread was a delicacy, and he couldn't wait to get some, though as he was about to approach the baker, he forget a simple thing: he didn't know how to speak French. He was saved when Cas came up behind him and handed him the basket, three boxes of brownie mix in it along with the other food.

"Pourrais-je s'il vous plaît avoir un baguette?" Castiel smiled towards the baker, who smiled back, telling him the cost, and he quickly got out the amount specified, while Dean just stood there standing and feeling stupid. They left the bakery section and entered the candy aisle, and Dean smiled.

"So, how much are you allowed to spend?"

"As much as I want, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be buying everything. I'm not letting your teeth rot out," Cas smiled at him, hiding a laugh before moving to look at the soda. He grabbed two bottles of pink stuff, that he explained was Lorina, or pink lemonade, and he also grabbed some kind of French cola, and then the moved down, towards the chips. Dean made sure to grab a bag of Doritos, not believing they even had them. He put that in the basket, and then the two moved into the meat aisle. Cas moved along, and Dean just followed behind him, though he may or may not have spent his time looking further south than he should have. Cas grabbed a small packer of hamburger, and then they walked over to the milk, and he got a few cartons of what Dean thought was 1%, but he didn't get too good a look since he was already occupied.

They met with Sam and Mary at the check out station, and Mary eyed the basket wearily. Dean smiled, shrugging his shoulders before pocketing his hands.

"Just make sure to not eat too much sugar, alright boys?" Mary began piling things onto the conveyer belt and Dean and Cas both nodded.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Winchester. We'll have a very healthy dinner tonight, I have plans for it," Castiel continued to smile and Dean's faltered. He elbowed Cas in the stomach, and Cas just shot him a look.

"Dean, you'll be fine. Dinner will be good, and so will lunch. Trust me," Cas then began putting his thing on the conveyer belt as the cashier brought up the price for Mary's groceries. Dean watched as she spoke French with the girl seemingly in her early twenties, and he was envious. He wished he could speak French, but there wasn't enough time to properly learn how. Cas got his wallet out as the cashier rung him up, and he talked to her in French, glancing back at Dean once or twice, his cheek turning a light shade of pink; Dean wondered what they were talking about, and then when they were about to leave the check out, the cashier winked at him, and said something he didn't get.

"Amusez-vous bien," she was giggling as she did, and Dean was worried for some reason, so he hurried out the door after Cas, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"What did you two talk about?"

"You." Cas's face was almost red at this point as he put his things in the trunk of the car with their bags. Dean went and pushed Sam into the passenger seat, taking the middle with Cas, making their talk unavoidable. Mary this time around put some music on, and Dean made sure to whisper his question.

"What'd you say about me?" Cas was fidgeting with the end of his shorts, biting his lip at the same time before looking to him, his eyes looked worried and Dean almost didn't want to know.

"She asked who you were, since they don't get that many strangers, and I told her that you were my boyfriend from America," Cas was now deliberately not looking at Dean, his eyes just focusing on his shorts, and how he constantly messed with the hem. Dean couldn't believe it, Cas had introduced him as his boyfriend, which okay hadn't happened before, but he didn't know Cas would do it at all. He didn't seem like one to be too close to many people. Dean was smiling then, and took Cas's hand in his, which made Cas's head dart up to look at him, his yes showing how scared he was. Dean just chuckled and kissed him, his other hand going to cup his cheek, his thumb going over it slowly.

"I don't know why you're so worried about it, babe. It's no big deal." Dean smiled, kissing him again softly before letting go of him. Cas gaped at him a bit, then swallowed, nodding.

"I just thought, you wouldn't want people knowing... I don't know. I'm sorry."

"There's no need to be apologizing, Cas. You didn't do anything wrong," Dean just rubbed his leg and turned to face the frot of the car. They were almost to Cas's house, which wasn't as far from the store as theirs. When Mary parked out front, they all hurried to get everything inside before the mother Winchester was waving from the car and leaving them there. Dean smiled as he saw his mother drive away, and then he pulled Cas in by his suspenders and kissed him ruthlessly, his hands staying on his hips, as Cas's went behind his neck. He then felt Sam punching him.

"I'm right here you guys!"

 

______________________

 

They ate lunch, which ended up only being sandwiches, but after that, Cas made some brownies as Dean and Sam watched some foreign movie, on in Cas's case, a movie he really liked that the American's hadn't seen yet. When they brownies were finished, and they had made sure to put chocolate chips in them, they all headed upstairs, to get their things situated for the next two days. As Cas showed Sam to Anna's room, as it was the neater of the two that were available to him, Dean went into Cas's knowing that he'd be sleeping there.

After laying his stuff on the bed, he looked around, kinda happy at what he was seeing. It was only two days, but for now and until then, it was his room, it was the room he shared with Cas, and that was making him weirdly happy for a reason he couldn't explain. Dean went about cleaning it up a bit, putting the clothes that Cas had left on the floor into a hamper, and opening the closet to see tons of clothes. There seemed to be enough clothes for a different outfit very day of the month, and Dean wanted to know how Cas could have so many clothes. He didn't have to wait long, because Cas walked in, and saw what Dean was doing.

"I can put my clothes away, don't worry about it," Cas moved Dean out of the way, shoving him a bit towards the bed, and began hanging clothes back up.

"I thought those were dirty?"

"No, I just... tried on a couple things this morning before you picked me up," Cas was getting hangers and putting his shirts back up, and then folding his pants. When he finished he turned back around, his hands on his hips as he looked to Dean, a bit breathless. And how could Dean not walk up to him and kiss him? He was just so amazing perfect in his eyes, and he couldn't help himself, his hands going to Cas's and leaning forward and tilting his head to kiss him. Cas made a muffled sound and put his hands around Dean's back as Dean raised his to Cas's face.

"You know, I'd like to see you in some different outfits if you don't mind," he whispered, his thumb going over Cas's bottom lip lightly before he kissed him again, and Cas nodded.

"I don't mind. Just.. just let me pick something out for you," he kissed Dean, and pulled away, a smile on his flushed face. Dean smirked then moved to sit back on his bed, watching as Cas moved through his clothes and picked a few things out. Cas stayed turned from his as he changed out of his clothes, and Dean watched every move. He liked being able to see the form of Cas's ass through his boxer briefs, and he bit his lip when Cas pulled on his pants, because hell did they fit like a glove. Cas then put on a simple t-shirt and then what looked to be a tan cardigan. When he turned around Dean swallowed thickly, biting his lip again as he looked him over.  
Cas was absolutely fan-fucking-tastic, and he looked so good in those clothes that Dean couldn't believe he hadn't worn it before. Dean looked to Cas's face, which was red and his eyes and features were laced with worry.

"Dean? Do you like this outfit?"

"Like it?" Dean stood up, and was in front of Cas in two steps holding his hips and swaying gently before kissing him. "You look good, real good, as always." Another kiss, and Cas was smiling through it. "Another one?"

"Another...? Oh you want me to try more clothes on?"

"Yes, please," Dean kissed him one more time before moving to be leaning against the wall, watching as his boyfriend took his clothes off again. He was pretty sure at this point he would never tire of seeing his ass, especially up close like this. Cas, while taking his pants off, had accidentally slipped his thumb under the rim of his underwear, and so Dean got to see more skin than had been planned, and wow how that made his dick twitch. Dean bit his lip, crossing his legs to try and avoid an unpleasant scene on his part. Cas pulled his underwear up quickly and pulled another pair of shorts on, these ones were tan and hemmed on the edges too to rest just above his knees, which Dean thought were almost perfection. A white polo shirt went on over that and then a blue sweater vest and a vinyl jacket, and then Cas turned back around, his hands out on either side of himself. Dean smirked, seeing him like that, trying on clothes just for him.

"So? How do I look?"

"Amazing, babe, just perfect, really," Dean pulled him forward to have him lean against him, and smiled, kissing him. Cas was eager to kiss him back, his hands gripping at Dean's shirt before moving away.

"Anything else you want to see me in?"

"Nothing, really, just put on your favorite shirt or something, anything you wear looks good," another kiss, and Cas was pulling away to pull his clothes off again. Dean couldn't help that his dick was almost fully hard now, and from just staring at Cas's ass. Of course, Cas did have an excellent one, but there was no way for him to get rid of this right now, and with Cas putting more clothes on, he wasn't gonna last long. Dean watched as his arms pulled everything off again, and then he watched as Cas pulled some sweats and a shirt out of his closet. They looked familiar, but he couldn't place what they were until Cas turned around to reveal the shirt Dean had lent him not too far back. He bit his lip and kept his hand moving on the wall to make sure he stayed calm. Cas was biting his lip, and Dean just moved forward, kissing him hard, his hands going to grab his ass as he practically picked him up. Cas made a strange noise at that, but he wasn't pulling back, it was more like he was trying to kiss harder. Dean pulled away this time.

"Hey Cas, you have a bathroom? I didn't get to shower yesterday," of course that wasn't actually what had happened, he'd taken a shower that morning before they'd left, but he needed to take care of his situation now. Cas nodded, and pulled away, walking towards the door and pointing towards the other door that was next to the stairs.

"The shower's in there. I'll just wait here for you, um, and towels are under the sink," Cas kissed him one last time, his hands lingering on Dean's sides before he let him leave. Dean smiled, walking towards the bathroom probably faster than normal.

Upon locking the door, the first thing Dean did was pull down his zipper, then jeans and underwear. He was hard already, and by the state of his underwear and how he'd already leaked on them, he was ready for some serious jacking. The shower didn't take long to heat up, and Dean stripped till he was naked to get under the cascading water. It felt good, and the first thing Dean did was wrap a hand around himself and slowly move it back and forth. The image of Cas's ass stayed in his mind, and then it went to how Cas would look sprawled on a bed, and that almost got him as he thought about it, using his hand and the water to make it feel like some sort of friction he needed right then.

Dean moved to be leaning against the tile wall, the water barely touching the front of him as he kept his hand on his cock, just running his hand over it, squeezing lightly as he thought of Cas, naked on his bed. Oh god, thinking of Cas at his house back in Kansas made him bite his lip and almost close his eyes. Paired with that image, Dena ran his thumb over the head of his cock, and his leg twitched and he just couldn't stand it. He turned around, one hand on the wall, the other hand moving fast and tight over his cock, that quickly became achingly hard. Just thinking of Cas's ass, and then god, Cas rolled over, showing himself full and a blank canvas for Dean to cover in all sorts of bruises and scratches. That was it, that was what made Dean tense and spill out over his hand, the shower making quick work to wash it off. He breathed in heavily, his eyes closed as he slumped against the wall. He smiled to himself and just waited as he became soft, then got to cleaning himself off.

As he stepped out of the bathroom, towel around his waist and clothes in his hands, he walked to Cas's room to see him browsing something on his computer. At the sound of Dean clearing his throat though, he closed the top and swiveled around, his face pink, and turning red as he saw Dean had only the towel on.

"Dean, I.. I'll leave so you can change," and with that, Cas was rushing out of the room, closing the door behind him. Dean chuckled, dropping the towel on the floor before moving to his bag to grab his underwear and put his clothes back on. After he was dressed he headed out, planning on joining Cas with whatever he was doing, hopefully something that wouldn't make him hard again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhh i'm so sorry this is late, but i've got school and the end of the year is always stressful. the next chapter should be longer and better though, so i hope you like this one :)))


	11. Flower Crowns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Sorry this took so long, school got in the way, and I'm also sorry it's a relatively short chapter.

Sam was in Anna's room, at least that was what Cas had told him, and he liked it. It wasn't too girly like he thought it might be, and it seemed organized and neat for the most part. He was also closest to the bathroom, which Sam had been about to use until Dean practically ran past him holding his pants before closing the door. He just looked after him, and then back to Cas's room where the other boy was standing his face hot as he retreated back into his room, closing the door. Sam sighed, shaking his head before he went down the stairs to use the other bathroom.   
The house was large, though it still seemed smaller than theirs in just a bit of ways. They didn't have a master bedroom it seemed, which was odd, because Sam knew Cas had parents somewhere. They had a larger front room than them, and a extra space next to the kitchen that let hem outside. Sam stood next to the back door and blinked. He hadn't realized how many flowers Cas had, he knew he had some, but the amount that Sam was seeing outside right now was not something he thought a teenage boy would have. 

It didn't stop there though. Sam could see the flowers Cas must have spent hours upon hours working on, but beyond that he could still see wildflowers growing beyond that, and they decorated the ground making it seem like a moving rainbow, the wind making them sway just slightly as they stayed rooted to the ground. He couldn't believe it, he couldn't believe that something like this could be here for him to admire and see and just tare out because this didn't happen. In Lawrence back home they didn't have any near by wildflowers growing, and most people didn't take care of their own flowers, so to see them in abundance like this was something Sam had never experienced.   
Then the moment was ruined when Dean snuck up behind him and pounced on his shoulders. 

"Dean!" Sam whirled around after almost falling to the ground to see Dean and Cas standing behind him, Dean with a smirk on his face. 

"Heya Sammy, we're heading outside. Cas's gotta take care of his flowers. You can too if you want," Dean clapped him on the shoulder before opening the sliding glass door, Cas trailing after him before turning around. 

"Also, Jessica is coming over a bit later. Her parents have to leave town and she's spending the night today and tomorrow." Cas smiled at him and then walked through the door, leaving Sam wondering what he should do. He could get all sweaty and gross helping with the flowers, or he could get something ready for when Jess got there, though he didn't know when that would be. Sam decided to go after Cas, his hand on his shoulder. 

"Hey, you said.. you said you could tell me which flowers she likes."

"I can help you make a crown of flowers for her if you like. We usually do all the time during the summer." Cas looked to Dean as he headed towards the shed, getting everything out and then helooked back to Cas. Sam couldn't believe he was even thinking about doing this, but as soon as the connection with Jess was put, he found himself nodding quickly. 

"We need to take out all the weeds and dead flowers first. With all of us it shouldn't take too long."

"Alright, let's get going then," Sam smiled and walked with Cas the rest of the way towards the shed, where Dean was digging through to try and find another pair of gloves. Soon they were all decked out in hats and gloves, and each assigned a flower bed by Cas, who told them what to do, and what not to do. Cas moved faster than both of them combined, but that didn't really surprise Sam all that much since he would have had to be doing this by himself most of the time by the looks of it. That didn't mean he wasn't sweating bullets though from being under the sun and close to the ground. His hands felt like furnaces under the gloves, and he took them off to wipe the sweat off on his shorts, taking them to create some sort of breeze by his face, because the wind he'd thought he'd seen earlier seemed to have vanished.

It was an hour before they were all finished. The flower beds seemed to be neater than normal, at least that's what Cas said when they were relaxing in the kitchen, all of them having a cold glass of water in their hands. Sam drank his down heartily and sighed afterward, placing it down on the counter before turning the sink on and putting his dirt and sweat stained hands under the running water. It felt nice and he smiled before he heard a chair being knocked over. He turned around to see Dean lifting Cas onto the table, his hands on his hips with Cas's hands in Dean's hair, and he almost vomited. 

"I'm right here you guys!" Sam wasn't going to move towards them, and thankfully Cas pulled his face from Dean's, breathing heavily. 

"I'm sorry, Sam... Let's go outside to make the flower crowns now."

"Flower crowns?" Dean looked between the two of them, and Sam nodded with Cas.

"He's gonna help me make one for Jess." Sam regretted saying that the moment after he did, as Dean smirked at him and let Cas off the table. 

"Sammy's got a little crush, doesn't he?"

"No! I just need someone to keep my sane while we're here, because if I have to keep seeing you two make out I might gouge out my eyes." Sam stuck out his tongue as Dean did, and Cas just pushed them apart. 

"Let's get going. She'll be here soon, and we haven't even started." Cas then walked outside and the two brothers followed him. He didn't stop at his flower bed though, and Sam knew they were going out to the field behind his house. They kept walking until they were in the middle of wildflowers, and Sam couldn't help but smile.

"We're using these?"

  
"Yes. The ones in my garden are too big, and Jessica always likes using these," Cas smiled before sitting down quickly and looking around. He started to pull flowers from the ground at the root, until he had a nice neat pile in his lap. There were several different kinds growing around them, and Cas made sure he knew all of them. There were daisies, which of course Sam knew about,there were poppies, campion, and sweet pea. Those were the ones they were using at least. 

"She likes the daisies and poppies most, so you can pick more of those, I'm just going to show you how to tie them together," Cas smiled as he watched Sam look around himself, picking the flowers carefully and placing them in a pile in front of himself. Sam liked this, he liked being outside and close to nature making something for Jessica. And yes, Dean may have been right when he said Sam had a crush on her, but he was entitled to have a crush on someone when Dean was constantly making out with his new French boyfriend, and in public no less.

"Now Sam, make sure that each flower stem is long enough to be braided together, and make sure you have enough to cover a whole circle. Her head is about this big," Cas made a circle with his hands, and Sam leaned forward to look through it, taking his own hands and making them into a circle about the same size. 

"I can not believe you're doing this, Cas. Let him figure it out so he can take her out, not you," Dean had taken a place next to Cas, his legs folded as he watched the two of them. 

"Dean, you can make one for me," Cas then handed the pile he'd picked to Dean and began collecting more, Dean all the while was blinking in confusion at what he'd just said. 

"What?"

"You heard me. I like wearing flowers on my head, and so we'll make each other crowns. It'll be fun and something to pass the time."

"Fine," Dena groaned, taking the flowers he'd been handed and making sure they were all faced towards the same direction. 

"Alright, and now, take three flowers you'd like to start with, and make sure they're lined up next to each other. You know how to braid hair, right?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh, then I'll show you. It's the same way you'll put these together." Cas then moved to be sitting next to Sam, three flowers in his hands, the stems all together. He kept their petals together and started folding the stems over one another, until they got a bit too short and he added another one in. Cas kept doing that and Sam began his own, watching as Cas continued to put the flowers together in a ring. Sam watched his hands, remember how big Cas had said Jessica's head was, and when he'd gotten to the last flower, a yellow poppy, he sighed. He hadn't watched when Cas had finished his, and so he looked up fro his work and saw Cas smiling at Dean as he placed the crown on his head. Dean was flustered, his face pink and his eyes following Cas's hands before he smiled and leaned forward, kissing him. They were dumb, and that was all Sam had to say about that.

  
"Hey, Cas. I need help finishing it," Sam raised the crown, and Cas turned to him, leaving Dean as he took the flowers in his hands delicately and pushed the last stem where they had originally began. There was a shout from the back door after Cas had handed him the flower crown back.

  
"Boys! I'm here!" Jessica was wearing a light blue sundress, and her sandals were in her hands as she ran out to them. Sam blinked, not believing she was really there, and then stood up, the flower crown hanging from his hand as he watched her run over and finally stop in front of him. He swallowed thickly, and shoved the thing towards her, looking down at his feet as he did. Jessica took the crown in her hand, and after turning it over a few times, placed it on her head, pushing her blonde hair behind her ear before smiling at Sam.   
"I love it, Sam. Thank you."

  
"Really? Uh, well, it was no problem. I just.. yeah." Sam smiled at her, and laughed a bit. Then she did something Sam hadn't expected; she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.   
"You're quite the gentlemen," she smiled again and then sat on the ground across from Cas, pulling some flowers from the ground herself.   
"And now I've got to make you one, so just sit tight. It shouldn't take long."

  
Sam was about to protest, but Jess was already picking the flowers and putting them in a pile on her dress, and in no time was braiding them together. Sam just sat down next to her, watching as her fingers weaved the stems together smoothly and efficiently. She was a master where he was just an apprentice in the making of flower crowns it seemed. Sam didn't look up from her hands that seemed to glide from each stem, and he seemed to be raising from the dead when she announced she was finished and placed the crown on Sam's head. He blinked, and looked at her, at the growing smile on her face, and he smiled too.

  
"Well, now that you two are done being all sappy, let's head inside, it's too warm out here to be doing anything," Dean smirked at his brother before standing up, holding his hand our for Cas as he did. They all began walking back to the house, talking about what they could have for dinner, about what they could do, or if they should just sleep the rest of the day away. It didn't matter to Sam what they did, because by now, it was already the best day ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the next chapter won't be up for at least a month, because it's going to be a longer chapter, or split into two that will be put up at the same time. I hope you can wait for it!


	12. Chapter 12

That Sunday had been exciting to say the least. Cas had told the brothers and Jessica all that they would do in France, telling them about his favorite restaurants, his favorite places to just sit and watch the people, and of course the best view of the fireworks on Bastille Day. Of course he didn't know how long they would be there, that was all depending on what the Winchesters wanted to do, since they were going with them. Though the one thing they would have to do is go to dinner with his family, which Castiel was not excited for, since he hadn't yet come out to his parents, and if they were to find out he had a boyfriend already? And from America no less? They hadn't quite liked the country, though they frequently went there on business trips, they complained about them, and now Castiel could see that they hadn't been entirely true. What they thought of americans probably just proved true for those that they worked with.

  
After the brothers had left, and Castiel was only with Jessica Monday, they planned their own agenda. They would both work towards making it the best visit to Paris for the brothers, planning things and where to eat and go that would be the best to live through in Paris. It wasn't hard to come up with an itinerary with how many times they'd been there, they just had to plan things around Le Jules Verne and they would be fine. After that it was easy, and since Mary had told them at least three days in Paris, they could do a lot more. Jessica left later on Monday, and that gave Castiel time to pack.

There were many things Castiel wanted to bring to Paris, but he thought about it, and if he packed too many things he wouldn't be able to buy anything at one of the shopping malls he'd already written down of the list of things to visit. He gave up on that though, crossing it off the list, and packing his clothes. They didn't need to see a mall, they could visit a lot of other, more interesting things. The only thing Castiel was able to get finished though was checking the weather and picking out clothes that would be good for it. He made dinner at nine o'clock, since he'd lost track of time, and called Dean.

"Hey, babe."

 "How did you know it was me?"

 "Caller ID, Cas. So What'd you do this afternoon?"

"I got clothes out to pack. I'm not sure if I'm bringing everything though," Castiel laid back on his bed, closing his eyes. He had a lot to get ready and pack before he spent the night on Wednesday to leave Thursday. He was excited for this, to spend more time with Dean, though to be truthful they'd been spending more time together than Castiel had with anyone in the last few weeks of school. Dean had been something so weird and new, he had completely overtaken him now that Cas looked back on it. he'd taken over his life in the most simple way; he'd taken over his life in a way that Castiel was okay with, because Dean cared about him, and he was here and he liked him back.

"Cas, you okay?"

"Wha-? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking. What did you say?"

"I was just tellin' you that my mom was okay with the list you came up with."

"Oh, I've made a change. We're not going to the mall."

"Why?"

"Because we don't need to go there, Dean. There are so many other things we can do, and that isn't one of them. You have malls back home," Castiel turned over in his bed, looking at his clock and the red numbers blaring back at him telling him that it was almost ten at night. It was still early by some standards, but he needed to be well rested for when they were in Paris, because he had a feeling he wouldn't be sleeping much there.

"Sure, okay. Hey, you feeling alright?"

Castiel was a little put off by the question. Why wouldn't be feel alright? He was tired, but given that it was now ten that was expected. He wasn't feeling sick or anything, quite the opposite. His conversations with Dena always made him happy and content, and he was feeling that now as a blazing and constant warmth in his chest. He had no reason to not feel wonderful. "I'm fine. Why?"

"I don't know, you've just seemed off today is all. You didn't ever text me back after lunch, and I called you twice before you called me."

 "Really? I didn't notice. I'm sorry." Had he really just not noticed when Dean tried to contact him? Castiel cursed under his breath sitting up and running his hand through his hair.

"I didn't mean to ignore you. I've just been busy."

"Yeah, I can tell. Trying to plan out our whole vacation for us."

"I just want it to be enjoyable for you all, Dean."

"I know, I'm not trying to be mean. I just think it's kinda funny."

"Dean..." Cas drifted off, licking and biting his lip, not really knowing what to say anymore. He was just full of something, full of this brilliant heat inside his chest that would pulse whenever Dean spoke to him, and he didn't know what to think of it. He didn't know what to say anymore, or if he even wanted to talk or just lie there knowing Dean was on the phone; he would be fine just listening to him breath while he slept.

"What is it, Cas?"

"I just... I'm excited to show you around Paris."

"I'm excited to go," Dean paused, and Cas could hear him yawning, " but I think I'm gonna need to go to bed first."

"Of course, I'll remember to text you back tomorrow."

"Sure thing, Cas. Good night."

"Good night, Dean," Castiel hung up his phone, placing it on the charger before turning over in bed, just gazing at his ceiling as he thought about his current situation. Dean was his boyfriend, and they were together. Though how long that could last once he'd went back to America he didn't know. He didn't even know if Dean would be interested in continuing their relationship after he left France, and that hurt; that thought hurt a lot more than it should have. Castiel took a shaky breath, closing his eyes and swallowing before he got back up to replace his shirt and take off his pants. He didn't need to be thinking so deeply before he went to bed, it would only lead to another sleepless night, and that wasn't what he needed. He needed rest, not turmoil. He was fine for the moment, Dean was still with him, so he had nothing to worry about. There was nothing he needed to think to much into, they were just going out, and if it ended when Dean left, then it would. That didn't mean Castiel wasn't going to do something so it wouldn't though.

 

* * *

 

It was not exciting to see Cas come over to their house on Wednesday. Dean had been fretting over who knew what and all Sam knew was that it had to do with Cas. He'd been freaking out, double checking his suitcase, five times, and just overall making sure the house was perfect. Sam didn't know what was going on, Cas had been over there before, heck, he'd even slept there a few times, so why did it matter now to clean the house? It did matter though, because Dean was coming into Sam's room, making sure it was clean and Sam never had a dirty room.

"Dean, you need to calm down," that had been about the fourth time Sam had told him that, and Dean would always just push the comment aside.

"I am calm, what're you talking about? I just don't wanna leave the house dirty while we're gone," and again, brushed off by the same comment about wanting to come home to a clean house.

"Whatever. You've cleaned the toilet three times already, I think the house is clean."

"Did I clean the downstairs bathroom? Oh god, how the hell did I forget!" Dean then rushed from his room, not bothering to close the door he had opened. Sam sighed, shaking his head before taking his duffle bag and picking it up, walking outside his room as well. He carried the bag downstairs, putting it next to the door with the rest of the baggage they'd put there. They were only supposed to be gone for five days, not long enough to need a lot of things, but Sam packed carefully, packing an extra pair of everything just in case.

Just when he was about to head back upstairs to try and finish one of the books for school, the doorbell rang. Sam sighed, moving to open it, but Dean ran ahead of him, pushing him somewhat to the side. He opened the door, only for it to be Jess and her parents dropping her off. Sam rolled his eyes, then smiled towards Jessica as Dean moved to let them in. Her parents went to the kitchen, the man and woman whispering to each other in French as they went to talk to his mom and dad.

"Sorry about Dean. He's been acting weird since this morning."

"Do you know why?"

"Probably something to do with Cas, but I don't know for sure."

"They're quite amusing to watch," Jessica smiled, laughing a bit, and Sam couldn't help but join her, smiling widely after they stopped.

"Oh, uh, I'll show you back up to the spare bedroom. Dean cleaned that too."

"Has he been cleaning the whole house?"

"All day."

"Wow, he has it bad."

"Has what bad?"

"He's in love with Castiel. Can't you tell?" Jessica raised an eyebrow in Sam's direction, and it clicked on in his head. Sure, he had known they liked each other, they were going out after all and he's seen them make out more than he'd wanted too, but he didn't really think it would ever turn into something so serious. They were leaving after all in a month.

"Wow, what a dork," Sam shook his head a bit, walking up the stairs behind Jess.

"I think it's sweet. Cas has never had someone as close as Dean before, it's nice that they're the same age." They got to the top and were about to enter the spare bedroom when Dean raced up behind them.

"Uh, Jess, could I ask you a question?"

Sam looked at Jess, and then to Dean, a bit annoyed that he couldn't spend time with his friend when Dean spent hours upon hours with Cas. Of course he couldn't control what Jessica did, so he just stood there as she nodded, smiling towards him.

"What is it?"

"I was wondering if you could teach me something. In French."

"Like what?" Jessica seemed a little amused, and Sam was a bit curious as to why Dean would want something like this. Dean shuffled around, sighing before running his hand through his hair.

 

"I don't really know yet. Something to make him know I like him? Something.. I don't know."

"Something sweet?"

"Yeah, something.. sweet." Dean nodded his head, and Sam was smirking at him. His brother was a total chick.

"Well, let's go into this room, and get me a piece of paper and pencil. I'll help you as much as I can."

"Thank you, Jess. You're a real angel." Dean smiled and hugged her before moving to get what she said. Sam followed her into the bedroom, sitting on the bed while she sat in the desk, spinning the chair a bit as they waited. They could hear Dean cursing about not being able to find anything even though he'd just cleaned his room. They waited just a couple more minutes, Sam watching as Jess continued to play with the chair. He smiled at how she seemed to be having fun, and she saw him, then smiled back. Dean entered the room after that, a paper and pencil in his hands.

Jessica took them from Dean, placing the paper on the desk and smoothing it out before readying the pencil in her hand. She looked to him, her eyebrow raised in question. Sam sighed, laying back on the bed with his arms spread out as he waited for this to be over.

"So what do you want to tell him?"

"Uh, that I really like him, I guess? Just something to let him know he means a lot to me."

"That's not very specific, Dean."

"Shut up, Sam. Uh, Jessica?"

"Well, Castiel likes flowers, so how about you get him some of the wild ones in your back yard before he comes, and you can tell him," she bean to write on the piece of paper, and Sam could see the small smile she was obviously trying to hide. Sam wondered if she was going to be playing a trick on Dean or not, telling him to say something in French and lying to him what it meant. "And, finished. I tried to put how you pronounce each word under it, and you should be fine. We'll go and pick some wild flowers from the backyard." Jessica smiled at Dean, handing him the paper back with the the pencil, the grabbing Sam's hand and pulling him out of the room. She raced down the stairs, and Sam went after her, following her past their parents in the dining room and out the back door. Jessica had already begun picking the wildflowers when he reached her.

"What did you write down?"

"Something he wants to tell Cas, but won't. Don't worry, it'll work, I promise."

"Alright, whatever you say... uh what kinds of flowers are you looking for.

"Alyssum and rosemary. Oh, if you could pick some of the dandelions, that would be good too."

"Why those?" Sam looked through the grass, and started picking the yellow flowers, making sure their stems were long enough.

"Alyssum stands for 'worth beyond beauty', and dandelions 'faithfulness and happiness', and rosemary 'constancy, fidelity, and loyalty.'" Jessica looked around, picking up what looked like weirdly shaped grass to him, and the small white flowers. She continued till she had a hand full, and then walked over to Sam, taking his in her hands too. "We'll need a ribbon to hold all this together, could you get me one?"

"Sure, no problem." Sam smiled again, running back into the house and looking through the different drawers in the kitchen for some type of thing to hold the flowers together. When he found one he went back outside to see Jessica still looking through the grass for something. "Did you drop something?" She jerked up, looking to Sam and shaking her head.

"No, just looking. Thank you," She took the ribbon and tied it around the stems so they could stay together. When eh was satisfied she smiled and they walked back into the house to see Dean looking out the front window, glancing at the piece of paper every now and then and mouthing the words to himself. Sam chuckled, rolling his eyes at how completely ridiculous his brother was acting. Jess walked up to him and handed him the flowers, smiling before walking back to Sam, turning her face a bit before touching it to his shoulder.

 

"What is it?"

"I'm just really happy I can do this with you and your family. My parents are leaving for Spain on business tomorrow. They're not coming back until after we do."

"Where are you staying when we get back?" Sam was worried. She was only supposed to stay the night directly after they returned, and he hadn't heard about the business trip. He glanced from her to the door, Dean still waiting and pacing around for Cas.

"My uncle is picking me up from here, and I'm staying with him the rest of the summer."

"What? But.. . but then I won't be able to talk to you."

"You'll still have your phone, and maybe you could send me a real letter then. Hand written and everything. That would be nice." Jessica was sad about leaving, Sam could tell in the ways her eyes seemed to fall, but he couldn't do anything about it.

"Why don't you just stay at Cas's house?"

"My uncle doesn't like him very much, and we've had this plan for a while now. I was originally supposed to go to his house yesterday, but since you asked about Paris, we postponed it."

"Well, maybe we could visit you," Sam smiled, he really had no choice but to make her feel happy, because he did not want to see her sad,not before they left. They were then interrupted as the door opened, Dean looking out to see Cas putting his bike away on the porch, his bag over his shoulder. Sam watched, sort of grossed out when Dean kissed him for almost a minute, and then just rolled his eyes when Dean gave him the flowers. Cas looked shocked to see them, but watched as Dean tried to remember exactly what the paper behind his back said.

"Uh...J'aime passer du temps avec vous... et je voulais que vous sachiez que je veux être avec toi, um, pour toujours." Dean smiled weakly after that, and Sam felt secondhand embarrassment down to his toes. Cas stared at him, the flowers in his hands, his mouth opened just a bit in disbelief.  
"Dean," Cas closed his mouth, swallowing hard. "I feel the same way. I... Dean." He blinked a few times, then almost leapt forward, hugging Dean close to him. Dena hugged back, and Sam wanted to be in another room.

"Let's get out of here," Sam pulled on Jessica's sleeve, and they walked up towards her guest bedroom. They were both sitting on the bed now, just in silence.

"What did you write down for him to say?"

"That he loved spending time with Cas, and wanted to be with him forever."

"You really think they love each other."

"It's so blatantly obvious, Sam. I'm surprised they can't see it themselves."

 

* * *

 

The night had not been pleasant. Sam, however hard he tried, could not sleep, mostly because of all the noise. What he hated about it was what Dean and Cas weren't making enough for mom and dad to hear, so he had to deal with it, and so did Jessica. Now while he was sure that they weren't doing anything too extensive, probably just making out aggressively, he still did not want to hear it. So what Sam did, was walk across the hall with his flashlight, and bang on their door loudly. He pounded on it until Dean opened the door, his clothes looked rumpled, but not hastily put on, and Sam could see Cas in the background, running his hand through his hair as he sat on the bed.

"What do you want, Sammy?"

"You to go to sleep. You're keeping me awake with all your noise." Sam glared at Dean, who looked too thoroughly kissed to really be paying attention.

"I'm sorry, Sam. We'll go to bed, right away," Cas came up behind Dean, pushing him to the side; his apology was genuine from what Sam could see. Dean closed the door, and

Sam was able to return to his room, the halls blissfully quiet now. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

It didn't do much good though, because it felt like only minutes later he was being woken up, told to use the restroom, get dressed, and go downstairs for breakfast. They were leaving in a half hour. Sam looked at the clock and sighed as it read a quarter past seven. He could hear the others being woken up too, which meant he wasn't the only one trying to sneak in a few extra minutes. Either way, Sam got up, put the clothes on he readied the night before, and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth before breakfast.  
When he got to the dining room Cas, Dean, and Jess were already sitting around, eating the pancakes that were piled high on a plate in the middle. Dad was drinking a large cup of coffee, his eyes barely open. Mom was walking back into the dining room, glasses filled with milk on a small tray.

"Eat! Then after go to the bathroom and meet us by the car. We need to leave as soon as we can!"

"Honey, we should have left hours ago if we wanted to avoid traffic."

"We're fine, dear. We have plenty of time to get to Paris today, including time in case of traffic." Mary smiled at all of them reassuringly, John grumbling as he sipped his coffee. They ate in silence, and Sam glanced towards Cas and Dean a couple times, not missing the way Cas seemed to pull at the collar of his shirt, and Dean constantly pulling his down. It was disgusting the way they were together. Sure, Sam was glad they had each other, but they didn't have to make out loudly when he could hear or see.

They finished breakfast, and soon enough everyone was in the car. Sam and Jess had the middle two seats while Dean and Cas sat in the back, though weirdly they left the middle seat open. Probably so one of them could lay down or something, like on each other's lap to nap, which Sam did not want to see. Mary turned around in the passenger seat, smiling again.

"You guys ready? We're off to Paris now!" She turned back around, and John started the car, pulling out of the driveway and starting down the road. It was apparently only around forty minutes till their first stop. The gas tank hadn't been filled the whole way, and so that was what they planned to do before they drove all the way to Le Mans, where they would stop for lunch.

There wasn't really anything to do in the car, and Sam had wanted to save his books for when they weren't doing anything in a hotel, or on the way back, so he had nothing to do. That was when Jessica brought out a pack of cards. Sam wondered what they could possibly play when they didn't have any hard surfaces to use as a table, but he then saw all their bags, and began putting them in the gap in the middle, erecting a small place to put cards.

"What do you boys want to play?" Jessica continued shuffling the cards, looking to all of them. Sam wasn't really sure, since he wasn't an avid player of any type of card games at that point, but Dean apparently did.

"Let's play presidents."

"What's that?"

"It's a fun game. Do you have another deck of cards?" Dean looked through his own bag to see if he had one, but alas, he didn't. Jessica thankfully did, and brought it out, handing the cards to Dean. He then began to shuffle all the cards together, the contrasting backs of blue and red standing out as he did. He then dealt all the cards into four piles. "Take one."

Each of them took a smaller deck of cards, and though Sam knew how to play this game, he wasn't sure about Cas and Jessica. They both looked equally confused, though sorting through their cards to put them in some sort of order, just like Sam was doing.

"So the objective is to get rid of all your cards first. Cas, you go first since you're too my left. What you need to do is place down any number of the same kind of card. You could be three jacks, or if you have them, five sevens. What has to happen is the next person then has to put the same number of cards of a higher card. So if you put three fives, Sam would have to put three sixes, or something higher. Three is the lowest number, and two is the highest, and automatically wins. Each round we go till no one can play, and then the last one that played starts the new round, okay?"

They both shook their heads, and Cas looked through his cards, then took out two, placing them down to show they were fours. Sam went next, putting down two sevens. Jess then placed two twos down, and that was how Sam knew he was going to lose this card game.

They played a number of times, Jessica winning all of them except one, which Dean did. Sam lost almost every time, and he blamed Dean's stupid shuffling, to which he would reply 'dude, everyone else has a good hand, you just suck'. It of course passed all the time until they were stopping at Nantes to fill up on gas. Everyone had a bathroom break, and then they were back in the car; they were told sightseeing would be for the bigger cities and on the way home.

They had two hours to kill now, and from what Sam was hearing from the back seat, he was not going to like them.

At least he had thought that the beginning, but now that Jess was leaning against the door, her legs stretched over the mall makeshift table, and feet resting on Sam's lap, he was okay with it. Sure, Cas and Dean were whispering things he could almost hear, but this was nice. They weren't making out, and the car was mostly quiet. The scenary was nice too, and Sam could just look out the window on Jess's side, watching as it rolled on by as they drove down the road. They passed smaller towns and another city, but Sam couldn't remember the name. It was only around the time his stomach began to growl did he ask how close they were to Le Mans.

"We'll be there in ten minutes, honey. Don't you worry. We already know where we're eating."

"Please don't let it be a McDonalds."

"It won't be, dear."

It was.


	13. Bastille Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family is in Paris for Bastille day, and the Winchesters get to finally meet the whole Milton family.

Though unable to point out any sufficient restaurants in Le Mans due to the fact they were all full, Castiel was set on making sure they ate dinner at a respectable place. Though that was before Mary told them their plans for dinner.

  
"We're buying some food from a grocery store, and we'll bring it back to the suite to cook. I know it's not ideal, but I don't want us to be pigging out the whole time we're here."  
As soon as she had said that, Castiel pocketed his phone, which he had been using to scan over the restaurants in the vicinity of the hotel they were staying at. It meant he had nothing to do during the ride to Paris. He could help with directions, but John and Mary both seemed to have a handle on that, whispering to each other as they let Sam and Jessica sleep in the back. Everyone was tired, the car wasn't the comfiest, and they had just eaten; the perfect equation for sleeping. Dean was even nodding off here and there, and Castiel didn't say anything when he finally fell asleep too, his head leaning on the window.

If it wasn't for the fact that Castiel didn't like riding in cars too much, he would most likely be asleep too, but it was not the time for that. He could easily just look outside the windows and admire the scenery, which was what he wanted to do. Any hopes of being able to stay silent were put to rest when Mary turned around, looking at all of them, her eyes then resting on Cas at the end.

"You could sleep too you know, Castiel."

"I'm not very tired, really," he adjusted his seat belt, his hands gripping his knees as he tried not to become nervous.

"Are you sure? It'll be another two hours until we're there. Then we have to make it through the city to the hotel," Mary smiled, and Castiel tried to return it, but didn't succeed very well.

"I'm fine. I'm just not very comfortable in cars is all." It wasn't that big of a deal, he could tell her, and it would explain his lack of sleep when yes, this car ride was also wearing on him.

"Ah, I understand. I used to have motion sickness when I was small; still can't go on roller coasters." She smiled again, and Cas nodded his head, glancing out the window to his side, then Dean next to him. He didn't want to talk right now, as much as he was comfortable around the Winchesters, he wasn't comfortable in a car, and therefore this conversation was not one he wanted to have.

"I've never had motion sickness thankfully, even with all the traveling I've done." Cas didn't like thinking about traveling, but he'd done it so often he couldn't voice his fear of the vehicles that got him place to place.

"Dean has rather bad motion sickness on airplanes, it's horrible at times. It's just this queasiness you get."

"I think I understand. Though I haven't had to fly as far as the United States."

"Maybe you should some day, maybe next summer to visit us. We'd surely welcome you over for however long you'd like."

This was odd, that Mary was inviting him over to their house. He would of course love to go and visit Dean back home, they'd already talked about the subject, but he didn't know how things were panning out yet for his education here, and so he didn't know if next summer would be vital or not when he applied for university. There was always the option of coming to America for schooling, maybe going to the same school as Dean did when he graduated his high school. It would certainly be an adventure.

"I would love to come, but I would need to ask my parents. I don't think my older siblings would be enough to get me out of the country."

"Of course that's understandable. Maybe we can ask them when we see them this Sunday at the Eiffel Tower."

"Well, you'll want to meet them first.... they're very particular with who I spend my time with." It was something Castiel didn't like about his parents, though every teenager and child had one.

"Would they approve of Dean do you think?"

"No," that was the simplest answer he could give, and he wouldn't give anything else. Castiel hadn't yet come out to his parents, and he didn't plan on doing that any time soon, or ever really. Mary seemed to feel the tension that had suddenly been strung and nodded her head.

"Well, I hope they approve of the family at least. It'll be nice to meet them finally, especially your siblings."

"I can't wait to see them again either." Castiel smiled until Mary turned around, and then sunk into his chair, closing his eyes before running a hand through his hair. He hadn't seen Balthazar or Anna since they left, and so it would be nice to see them, but there was a reason his parents were gone most of the time; they didn't like their children, they didn't feel in control of their children, and they didn't like what their children did. And if Castiel ever came out to them, he would probably never see the light of day, let alone Dean, again.

* * *

 

It wasn't long before they were coming up towards one of the main roads that led into Paris, and Castiel had been able to block out most of the road noise with his headphones securely tucked into his ears. Sam, Dean, and Jess were all still dozing, not really wanting to get up yet, which he understood. Mary was now running off directions to get to their hotel, which was supposed to be one right next to the river, which Castiel hoped was true. When he heard the name of the hotel he smiled, because he knew that they would get a good view of the Eiffel Tower depending on what floor they were staying on.

He would have gone through and asked if his phone hadn't started to ring. The others woke up from the loud noise, and he quickly went to answer the phone.

"Hallo?"

"Cas! Are you in Paris yet? Well, anyways, I'm here to tell you our parents booked the window seats to view the fireworks till midnight! Won't that be spectacular? We'll be in Paris most likely Saturday, and we could meet up. Anna's been meaning to shop for a few things, and I need to get some shoes as well."

"Balthazar, wait, we weren't going to go shopping. We were just going to go around town tomorrow and Saturday."

"Well then on Sunday we can go shopping before we need to head towards the tower."

"Fine, I need to make sure it's okay with Mr. and Mrs. Winchester first. I'll call you back later, we're about to check into the hotel."

"Oooh, where are you staying?"

"The Hotel Eiffel Seine."

"Really? There? You could have stayed in better places for less."

"It wasn't my decision, and it's not that bad."

"Whatever you say little brother. Well I have to leave now, so I'll talk to you later!"

"Say hi to Anna for me."

"Will do. Au revoir!"

With that, Castiel put his phone away, not thinking about how well his older brother had adapted to this country, and still denied it with every fiber of his being. He turned around to see the others rubbing their eyes or squinting profusely out the windows towards the sprawling city around them. Already the buzz of day to day life was beginning to intercept the car as they traveled down the streets towards their destination, stirring a bit of restlessness from the inhabitants to get out of the car.

When they finally reached the hotel, and were able to check in and park, they started towards the elevators. They had rooms on the tenth floor, each with apparently three beds. It was decided that Jessica would sleep in the same room as the adults, the boys getting the other room. They were right next to each other, so it was easy to go back and forth when asking any sort of question. Walking into the room, they found that there was a large bed that looked as though it could be separated, and then that the chair pulled out into a bed.

"I'll take the chair, just don't be humping or anything in here, okay?" Sam placed his things next to the chair, and Castiel tried to come up with something to say to that.

"Sam! We wouldn't do that, god what're you even thinking?" Dean's face was bright pink already, and Castiel knew his probably mirrored. They all got their things as situated as they could before they met in the parents' room, sitting on the floor and leaning against the walls to discuss what they would do for the rest of the day since it was only around half past three in the afternoon. There was discussion about just walking around, but Castiel raised his voice to that, saying that he didn't have plans for today, and he didn't want them looking at things he had in his schedule. Mary told him they'd need to look at it, and Castiel nodded, returning to their room after a quick stop in the other with his list of things they needed to do.

"There are a few things we could do today that I hadn't planned to do before, but other than that, this is it," Castiel handed the paper to Mary, who skimmed it over, nodding once or twice.

"This seems very nice. We could get by this and still not feel tired by the end of every day. Well, what were you thinking of doing today, Castiel?"

"Well, I thought we could go see the Arc du Triomphe. It's not too far away, maybe ten minutes with traffic. We could stand around, take pictures, and then find some place to eat? Or before we eat we could visit the Parc Monceau. It's a park, but it's beautiful in ways different from other ones."

"You have a couple other gardens on here, Castiel. Are they really that nice?"

"Oh yes. They're beautiful. How do you think I began gardening?" It was true, the first time he'd set his sights on Paris ten years ago, on the gardens that Balthazar and Anna would take him to, he'd wanted his own flowers. Sure, his garden was just flowers, nothing as large and extensive as they had here, but it was really the flowers that held his attention, the beauty of them, the simple and intricate way they added towards the scenery of the parks and gardens throughout the city.

"Well, then let's get going! I can trust you and Jessica to find us somewhere to eat, right?"

"Oui! I've been to many of the restaurants in that district with my parents. It will be easy to find one for us to go to," Jessica chimed, smiling at Mary.

"Though we'll have to walk around, not drive. The best way to be able to visit the arc is the metro. We can take it there, and then again to the park, and then home. It shouldn't take long, and that way we don't have to worry about parking. We'll only have to walk a little ways," though it sounded like a good idea, Castiel had no clue what the public transit was like in Paris, always used to being in cars and in apartments, never really being with the public in anything. He was so used to being with his parents and not looking around at what the rest of the population dealt with when it came to getting from here to there. It would be a new experience, and frankly, Castiel was excited to take the subway.

It wasn't long before everyone was piling out of the room, heading towards the elevators to get down to the ground level. Cas led them towards the metro entrance, and they figured out their tickets and everything rather quickly, he didn't have to help all that much since Mary was able to speak for herself. Just a few minutes later the six of them were finding places to sit on the underground train. They had a few stops here and there, and for one short stop Castiel stood up, letting an elderly woman take his seat, which she thanked him heavily for. She was just a small old thing, her clothes just a bit wrinkly, and her hair white as fog in a bun at the nape of her neck.

"Cas, you can have my seat," Dean quickly said, and Cas shook his head, waving him back down as he grabbed one of the poles.

"I'm fine, Dean. We only have a bit more to go." He smiled towards Dean, who slowly nodded his head, and he understood. The elderly woman tugged on his shirt, and he turned towards her as she began whispering something to him in French.

"You've got a very nice gentleman there for you. I'd hang on to him if I were you." She smiled, and as soon as they stopped she waved and left the train, the doors closing behind her as they left the station.

Castiel retook his seat, thinking about what she said as he looked at Dean as he talked to his little brother. Of course he thought he was lucky to have Dean, he was lucky to have been able to meet him at all, and especially so to have him as his boyfriend, even if for only a little while longer. They soon arrived at their station and got off the train, walking back above ground to see the glorious arc in front of them.

Cars were whizzing by in the massive roundabout, and Cas knew he was lucky to be able to show this to them, this one memorial he loved seeing best. He was about to step forward to the crosswalk in order to get to the massive arch when he heard John say something.

"Let's get a picture here, okay? Just one, and then we can take a couple at the arc. Just a few okay, I promise."

"John, be quick about it, there are a lot of people and we need to make sure we get somewhere for dinner."

"Honey, it's only now four, we still have a good two hours before we need to eat."

They kept talking like that while Castiel just huddled with the others, readying for the picture to be taken. It took a couple minutes, John having to get them in the right pose to get the arc behind them. A click later and they were bustling towards the crosswalk, and hurrying towards the arc to see the memorial for the many fallen soldiers.

"Are we going to go inside?" Sam asked suddenly, and he looked to his mother. Castiel wondered as well, but he saw why they wouldn't want to, as the steps could be a bit extensive.

"I don't think so, John's knees can't do that many stairs."

"You could always just go up without me."

"John, we're sticking together, we're a family after all."

And so it was settled they would stick with just standing and looking around the exterior of the Arc de Triomphe. Castiel would have looked at the carvings and statues coming out of the stone walls, but instead he was looking at the others and how they reacted to the beauty of the memorial arc. At some point, Dean took his arm and they began walking around and Castiel spewed what he knew about the arc.

"Napoleon commissioned it to honor his military victories, which the sculptures on either side show you. This one," Castiel pointed to the one side they were on that depicted a goddess over a soldier protecting his family, "shows the will that each person used to defend their family. It was very brave for a man to leave his family for war."

"Wasn't France always in some sort of war back then?"

"I wouldn't know for sure, but Napoleon sure did try his best to rule what he could."

They continued around the arc, and Dean pointed at Jess and Sam, who seemed to be doing something similar to what they were at that moment. It was quite funny how they seemed to match up, and when Dean pointed that out, Cas just shrugged his shoulders.

"A coincidence."

"Yeah, whatever. Hey, just a second," Dean pulled his arm away, taking his beeping phone out of his pocket and putting it to his ear. "Hey Benny!" Dean seemed happy at who was on the other side of the phone line, and Cas couldn't help but smile. Even though he had Dean here, Dean was still missing all his friends back home. They continued to talk, and Castiel listened, looking at the arc and trying not to be too obvious. Dean was planning to stay at Benny's place a few days, and Cas's heart sank. What would he do? He'd be home alone. He could always garden, that came back to him, but they only have a limited amount of time to spend together before Dean would be going back to the United States.

"Would I be able to bring someone? No it's not some girl. You remember me telling you about Cas, right? Yes I want to bring him. Would it be okay? Awesome! Thanks man," Dean finished the call and pocketed his phone, taking Cas's hand in his before they continued their walk.

"So what was that?"

"That was Benny, my friend from Kansas. He's with his grandparents close to the south of France. I made plans with him to stay over for a couple days the first week of August, the last week we're here."

"Really?" The thought of the time of their departure being so close suddenly came crashing down on Castiel. They'd be gone in less than a month from now, and he was just thinking of what they were doing. Why wasn't he planning on their future? If they even had one? He began to tremble, and he couldn't hear Dean's voice in the background as he tried to sit down and plug his ears.

"Cas? Are you okay? Cas? Castiel!"

"Dean!" Cas's head snapped back as Dean braced his shoulders and got on eye level with him. People were walking around them, some stealing glances, but most just ignoring them in favor of the historical landmark they were next to.

"Cas, what happened?"

"I-I don't know. I'm just," he couldn't finish his sentence. He was scared. Dean would be leaving, and he'd be alone again, without much affection except the jeers and small hugs his siblings would give him when they got home from a long trip. He couldn't live on that.

"Cas, I think we should go back to the hotel."

"N-No, I'm fine. We can keep going. Let's just find your parents.. Go to the next place, and eat dinner. I'm fine. Just tired is all, just tired."  
It didn't take long for Dean to find his parents, all the while Castiel kept his distance, not taking his hand and just shifting away when Dean tried to put his arm around him. They were soon back on the train, Castiel sitting against a window while the train made the short ride to the park. He knew that would help him calm down, to at least ease his mind from what kept running through it. Soon enough they were walking up the stairs and towards the park. The sight of the greenery, even from this distance, eased him. Castiel sighed, running his hand through his hair as they entered the large black and gold gates and walked into the park.

There was a packed dirt path that led somewhere they couldn't see, with benches every so often on the edges of the pathway. There were bushes and trees and flowers everywhere, and the sun was sparkling on the small amount of water that could be seen from sprinklers having gone off just minutes prior to their arrival. There were other families and couples here and there, some sitting on the benches and talking in rapid French that Castiel was glad to hear; it was almost soothing to hear the language he'd been using so often for the past decade he nearly stopped walking and ran into someone. It was when someone tapped his arm that he tensed back up. Jessica was standing behind him, looking a bit worried; Castiel was able to glance further back to see that the Winchesters were staying in a pod, looking around and enjoying the scenery, though Dean would steal glances at them every so often.

"Castiel, are you alright?" She spoke in French, as though she knew that he needed it at that moment.

"No. I'm worrying. What's going to happen when they leave? I've never felt like this before."

"I don't know. You could always keep contact with Dean, there are so many ways."

"It's not the same."

"I know."

"Do you really like Sam?"

"Yes, a lot."

"What're you going to do when he leaves?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out. Cas, if it's meant to last, it will."

"But how do you know?"

"I don't. Just have a little faith, and hope that it'll work out," with that, Jessica smiled at him, rubbing his back and kissing his shoulder before she turned to Sam, taking his hand and walking ahead of them. Mary and John did the same, walking down a different path, which left him with Dean, who stood awkwardly a few feet away.

"Are you okay, Cas?"

"Not really."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"We have to, Dean." Cas crossed his arms over his stomach, biting his lip before looking at Dean. He gulped and closed his eyes again before starting to walk slowly down the path, Dean staying by his side. It wasn't something Castiel wanted to talk about. He hated that he'd been alone most of his life, but now that he'd had some decent amount of affection from someone, he didn't want it to end. It seemed as though he was just being selfish, and that only helped widen the pit in his stomach that made him uneasy. "It's not something I really wanted to bring up, but it had before. It's just... I'm not sure what we're doing is right. You're leaving, Dean."

"Yeah, so? People have long distance relationships all the time," Dean huffed, keeping his voice low as they walked by a couple pushing strollers.

"I know, but do you even want that? Do you even want to keep going through this when you're on a whole different continent?"

"Cas, how did this come up?"

"It's just... I don't know. I thought about maybe moving to America for university, but I know my parents wouldn't be okay with that. Your mother invited me over to visit next summer, but I'm not sure how my parents would take that either. We'd never really see each other, Dean. We've been so... close here, and after you leave I won't even be able to hold your hand."

"Cas, you know we can work this out right? You could still go to college here or whatever, and you should come next summer. To hell what your parents think, they're never even there, so they shouldn't be able to control where you go. Just don't think about this right now, okay? We're not leaving for another month, and we're supposed to be having a good time," Dean tried a small smile, and Cas tried his best to return it. He didn't feel much better, but he knew at this point that pushing Dean away would not be good, so he unfolded his arms and took Dean's hand in his, leaning over and placing a small kiss on his lips.

"Thank you, Dean. You mean a lot to me."

"You mean a lot to me too, now let's go look at these flowers so we can get something to eat. I'm starving." Dean chuckled, kissing Castiel back, just a peck, and they were walking again. At least they could be together for now, and that was what mattered.

* * *

 

Dinner the previous day had been at a small restaurant, but in Paris even small ones can get packed, and so they were there almost an hour before they actually got to eat anything. It was something John had spotted out, and Castiel had never been there before, so it was something everyone would try; Mary was a bit disappointed that she remembered they would have nothing to really cook with in their hotel room. It hadn't been the best, but their house specialty of ice cream and fresh berry pie won everyone over. After that, they caught the metro back to the hotel, and all went promptly to bed. Sam had gotten mattress out of the chair, while Dean and Cas had just collapsed on their bed fully clothed, both of them falling asleep immediately as their heads hit their pillows.

The next morning all three of them woke up to knocking on their door. Sam was the one who got up to answer it while Castiel pushed Dean out of bed, since he was literally lying almost all the way on top of him. Dean gave a start as he fell to the ground, the door opening afterwards.

"Boys, there's breakfast downstairs. Hurry and get dressed so we can get started today."

"Where are we going today?" Dean asked as he rubbed his head, standing up as he did.

"We're visiting Luxembourg! The museum and the garden. We're eating after that, and then we're visiting the place the Bastille used to be, and then Notre Dame. We've got a busy day ahead of us boys, so get ready quick!" Mary smiled at all of them then closed the door as she left.

"We'd better get started. You guys need to take a shower, I did last night. And please don't take one together," Sam trembled a bit at that while he went through his clothes, trying to find something to wear. Castiel felt his face heat up and looked away from both of the brothers. He hadn't even thought of that until now, and he knew he wouldn't be able to take a shower with Dean. It was just not something he found appealing, though somewhere in his brain he knew that would probably change if he was more comfortable in their current predicament.

"I'll take first shower. Dean, you can make the bed and wait. I won't be long."

"Let me use the can first," Dean moved from his spot, locking the bathroom door behind him.

About a half hour later, Dean and Cas were making their way towards the food, and saw the rest of their group there, some having already finished eating, John getting seconds, and Mary drinking coffee as she watched the news on the tv not too far away from the table. They both filled their plates with food, Castiel putting some on Dean's that he knew he would most likely enjoy, and they both joined them. Breakfast took another eight minutes, and then they were all heading towards the parking structure to the car.

It took about fifteen minutes to get to the museum, after passing many other things, the Eiffel Tower one of them. Castiel tried to tell them as much as he knew about the things they passed and stopped by as they waited for their lights to turn, and in the end, he was very happy he was able to share such knowledge with them. They parked about two blocks away in a structure and walked the rest towards the museum, not pausing much since they wanted to get in as early as possible so they could have a full morning there and in the garden. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the gates, the museum was not yet open.

"We'll just go stroll through the garden first, it's nothing that we can't handle. This way we can just go on straight through to the museum and then have lunch!" Mary turned, pushing the hair that had escaped from her pony tail behind her ear. The rest of the group only nodded, not really being awake enough to argue. It wasn't that long of a walk towards the garden, and soon enough they were all walking down one of the paths, the garden drastically different from the one they'd visited just the day before.

The garden didn't have that many people strolling around, seeing as it was just a quarter past eight in the morning, and so the group could see many things. There were statues of women, their arms in various positions, there were bushes filled with flowers, and there was a lot of open space. A lot could be seen through the trees and vast areas filled with only grass, which meant there wasn't a lot to actually look at. That didn't mean that the Winchesters, plus Castiel and Jessica, didn't take their time and enjoy it though. The clean air was refreshing in the open space, and the somewhat quiet atmosphere of the garden was peaceful as they walked through and round the paths.

They could see the palace and the water fixtures, the roads were sufficiently blocked by other articles of nature, making the large garden seem somewhat secluded. Though they could have easily split off in groups again, the children and parents all stayed fairly close to one another, all of them wanting to either head to the museum or head back to the hotel and sleep more. At one point they did make it down to the La fontaine Médicis, or the Medici fountain, and were able to pause, sit down, and enjoy the sound of the gurgling water. A little bit later they started making their way back towards the museum.

When they got there though there was a line heading inside that didn't end until outside the gate, and John immediately groaned. Mary pulled him aside, and they began talking, leaving the rest of them to just wait around for their decision on what they would do. Sam and Jessica started talking softly under their breath, smiles creeping on their faces bright and slow. Castiel just leaned against Dean, his arms crossed over his chest with Dean's arm around him. It didn't take long until the adults were back in front of them.  
"We're not going to the museum today. Instead, we'll head on over the Bastille pillar, and eat lunch. Then we'll hit Notre Dame and circle back to the hotel," Mary smiled, and the rest of them just nodded in agreement. It was then their job to get back to the car, and drive towards the next area. The car ride didn't take long, and soon enough, about ten minutes later, they were parking again and getting out of the car to take pictures of the monument.

The July Column stood tall and proud, other tourists were getting pictures and reading up on history in small booklets; Castiel felt somewhat out of place being able to tell them the history from heart. Then again, he did live in France. They gathered around, and Jessica began telling them about the column.

"This was where the Bastille used to stand, a fort that the people of France destroyed by hand starting on July fourteenth 1789. It commemorates the entire revolution our country went through. There's a small path out of a special stone to show where the foundation of the fort was." She smiled at all of them, pushing her hair behind her shoulders before they walked forward towards the column. John had his camera out, and told them to pose for pictures, which they did. They walked slowly around the column afterwards, a few times in fact, and then took a seat on a nearby bench.

"What're we doing for lunch?" Dean asked, and Castiel wondered how long he'd been wondering that.

"Well, there are plenty of places just around here. Jess, Cas, do you know any place that's good?" Mary looked to both of them as they did to one another. It'd been a few years since Cas had eaten in this district, since he mostly stayed around Champ de Mars when he visited with his parents.

"There's a small restaurant within walking distance that I like to go to whenever I visit. Castiel you remember Chez Paul?"

"Yes! We went there for my fourteenth birthday."

"That's the one. I think we should go there," Jessica nodded her head, affirming her statement. It wasn't long until they were all on their way, walking towards the restaurant and getting seated for their somewhat early lunch.

It was around one that they were parking to walk towards Notre Dame, their main attraction for the day. Castiel was beyond excited to see the old cathedral, the one he'd gone to several times for mass with his parents the few months they'd lived in Paris when they'd first moved to France. He was practically pulling Dean by the hand towards the church, the rest of the family following quickly behind them. The doors were open, and people were walking freely in and out since mass had just ended. They waited until it was sufficiently cleared before entering the old church to look around for the beauty of the old architecture.

"Notre Dame was one of the first buildings to use flying buttresses, the supports on the outer walls, and is one of the finest examples of French gothic architecture."

"Damn Cas, you sure know your history."

"I used to attend here, Dean. Please don't curse while we're inside," Castiel squeezed his hand slightly as they stood next to one another before going on. "There are three organs, and the oldest one dates back to the 13th century and they still use it today. The windows," he took a pause to point towards the windows on the sides and the South Rose window that stood behind the great organ, "are stained glass, and many had to be restored many times from wars and battles. It stands for the New Testament in the Bible as well. There are small depictions of Saints and Martyrs all throughout it, and it's said to be one of the most important symbols of Christianity. Below the South Rose are the prophets, aligned next to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, the most important prophets in the Bible."

"Jeeze Cas. Take a breath, you don't want to lose air," Dean smiled and Castiel nodded. He was talking too fast to let them actually enjoy the beauty of the ancient cathedral. It had been there for centuries and still stood and was used. It was something they needed to take the time to admire.

The windows all glistened as the sun shone through the painted glass, the many different pictures showing a story not all of them really understood since they couldn't get close enough to examine their beauty. Others around them were standing agape at the windows and their glory, as if they'd never thought something so fantastically beautiful could have been built. The stone the window was encased in was even great enough for praise. The small intricate patterns that danced around just out of eyesight, and the way the columns dropped down as these huge figures holding the weight of the ceiling.

Soon enough they started walking around more, and Castiel would drop in tidbits of information about the sculptures and paintings. Of course since it was Saturday, there were many other people roaming about, talking to each other in various different languages, most likely about the same things Cas was telling them from memory. They were outside again, and more facts about the windows, the spire, and the flying buttresses came from his memory as he recited what he'd learned in history years ago. Jessica helped out, telling which builder made the plans for what, and who helped restore after the wars. It was explained that the flying buttresses, though exceptionally gaudy, served an important purpose of putting out the weight of the windows and the ceiling, for if they weren't there it would collapse. The bells couldn't be seen very clearly from any vantage point, but they told about them too, how the ones used now were cast in the 1800s, and still used upon services to this day. There was so much to go on about, and Castiel of course mentioned the gargoyles and how they were there to ward off demons and angry spirits.

It wasn't long before everybody was getting tired, their feet hurting from all the walking. Castiel felt this too of course, but it was only half past three, and they could still finish a lot. Over all though he didn't get to decide that they did, and as soon as John put the motion of them going home forward, it was set. They walked to the car that wasn't too far away, and they drove home. About twenty minutes later, they were in the elevators, waiting for their floor to beep up above the door. When it did, they left for their rooms, no talking except for Mary mentioning to come to their room around six for dinner plans. After that it was quiet, everyone on their respective beds, Dean holding Cas close with his nose breathing in Cas's hair. It was nice and peaceful, something that Castiel needed, and something that helped him fall asleep all the faster.

* * *

 

Whatever had happened in the last two days Dean could not even vaguely remember. He couldn't even remember getting to where he was now, which happened to be in Le Jules Verne, having just finished dinner. He was sitting next to Cas, who was holding his hand under the table, and Sam was on his other side, Jessica next to him. Across the table was Cas's older brother, Balthazar, who frequently slipped into French while he was speaking, though Dean knew he was doing it on purpose, and not just because Cas told him. Anna was sitting across from Cas, her red hair done up perfectly and her eyes popping from her face because of her dark dress. They were all wearing something fancy, and it made Dean's legs itch. He hadn't been this uncomfortable in his entire life, and he could feel the same emotions coming off of Cas as well.

They'd already eaten dinner, and were now just waiting for the fireworks that would be going off any minute. The day had been hectic, the city packed with people on Bastille day, the day the Bastille was seiged so long ago. It was insane; Dean didn't even think New York or Washington D.C would get this crowded, but then again that was a different and larger country. It had been completely crazy, watching the parade come from the Arc de Triomphe, the place they'd been just the other day. They'd been preparing all for this, the fireworks that would start any minute, that would resound probably through the whole structure of the Eiffel Tower. It was no doubt exciting, but the tension within their small dining room was too thick even for a saw. Cas grabbed his hand every so often, giving a small squeeze, and hoping his parents didn't see.

Castiel's parents, now they were a pair. They didn't seem to be attracted to each other at all, with their small squabbles and polite but stern disagreements. Zachariah and Hester Milton were torturous, and Dean could see why Cas chose not to travel with them. They were both polite to everyone, and made sure that everyone knew the disliked everything about America, but it was subtle in the way that if you pointed it out, they could deny everything. It was completely ridiculous, and had been going on through the whole of dinner as they talked to Dean's parents.

They were now focusing on him. Both sets of eyes, light blue from Hester and Zachariah, watched his every move. They had on clothes Dean thought you only saw in movies, and had excellent English and everything else. They were probably what someone would call the perfect business couple, at least with the way they took conversations.

"So Dean, you and Castiel are friends, yes?" Hester asked, pretending to adjust her skirts, which Dean knew for a fact didn't need adjusting. It was like they were trying to seem more human, which they failed miserably at.

They'd discussed this. They weren't to tell Cas's parents they were going out, they didn't know he was gay and he did not want to tell them his first boyfriend was from America. Dean had to play it cool, say something that would lead them off the trail of them being more than just friends. Sure, he felt like telling them they should support whatever Cas did, because he was amazing and smart and deserved that sort of thing from the people that gave him life. That wasn't the case though, and apparently after talking to his siblings earlier that day they hadn't even supported them in their endeavors, especially when Anna had dropped out of university to become a private art and music tutor.

"Yeah, when we met I was real mean and tired, and he helped me with some of his flowers that he said could aid sleep. I hadn't slept that good in my life," and there was the starting of his failure. Why the hell did he mention the fact that Cas had given him something to help him sleep? What would they even think because of that? Dean groaned inwardly, a small smile on his face as he shrugged. Hopefully it could only get better from there.

"Castiel does have a certain affection for flowers. Have you seen his garden?"

"Oh yeah, I've helped him in it," and that sounded dumb and Dean quickly added, "so has Sam. We were at your house for the afternoon." The laughter Dean saw in Balthazar's eyes was unreal. He was trying too hard to keep it all back, and it was obvious why he was excusing himself to go to the bathroom seconds after that. 

"I hope you've liked it here in France. Sure, we're here just as much as practically everywhere else, but we still call it home. We're excited for Castiel to be accepted into a university here, because when that happens we'll be staying inside the country more," Zachariah smiled, picking up his glass of white wine and sipping it before replacing it onto the table. Dean wanted to scream. Nothing was going to go right tonight, and everything he had been hoping before previously would be smashed to dust. There was no hope, not if the night kept going like this. He was saved though as his mom started to talk, and he almost sighed, and would have if he hadn't caught himself.

"Oh, Hester. I was thinking. Since the boys have gotten along so well here, I wonder if it would be okay for Castiel to visit us back home in America?" Mary was so sweet in the way she said her words so carefully, and Dean was glad his mother could pull it off, a smile on her face and stars in her eyes. Hester looked to Zachariah, her eyebrow raised, and Castiel squeezed his hand so hard he had to shake it out when he let go. Cas's parents seemed to be talking through their thoughts, sharing looks and just staring at each other until Hester sighed and folded her hands on top of the table. Dean could tell just from her expression that what she was going to say was not something he wanted to hear.

"I don't know. If Castiel is able to raise his school marks from what he got this year, I might think about it. He still needs to work on getting into university, and that could take a while. He wouldn't be able to be over for long, a week at most."

"I agree, Castiel's marks were not what we were used to seeing, they went down considerably the end of the school year for no apparent reason. It'll have to be remedied before he can visit America."

"What were his grades?" Dean couldn't stop himself from asking, and Cas was now tugging on his pants, whispering to him to not continue.

"The equivalent of your A minuses most likely."

"What? You're telling me that because Cas didn't have straight A's, just A minuses, that he can't visit? That's a load of crap! That's better grades than I've gotten my whole life!" Dean screwed up, he knew he did, and it was his fault. There was no changing it now, not with what he had just done, and he regretted it more than anything.

"And this is probably exactly why. Some boy from America came and disrupted his learning! I don't know how you're able to deal with him Castiel, but I do not want him around you any longer. You're to go home with Anna and Balthazar tomorrow, and if I hear from either of them that you've been seeing any of them," Zachariah pointed towards the whole of the Winchester family, "I'll have you transferred to a boarding house for a year round school back in England."

Nobody spoke, John and Mary were staring at Zachariah as he stood up, Hester following his lead. Anna and Balthazar were both lost for words, but quickly followed their parents out of the room. Castiel lingered, standing by his chair, his hand holding Dean's.

"Cas, they can't do this," Dean told him, and Castiel shook his head.

"They're my parents Dean. I'll talk to you later, just.... when you get back make sure to bring my stuff home." Castiel let go of his hand, and without looking back, followed his parents. Dean's phone rang just a second later, and when he looked at it he saw he got a text from an unknown number saying that they'd paid for the meal, and were free to stay in the room for the fireworks. Dean suspected Anna or Balthazar, but he didn't care, he just placed the phone on the table and closed his eyes, his arms crossed over his chest. He couldn't lash out, not here in front of people he didn't know or understand. The room remained quiet, no waiters or waitresses came into the room to pick up dishes for several minutes, and the room was still motionless then.

The fireworks started off minutes after the Winchesters had left the Eiffel Tower. It was a pain to get through the crowd, to get to their car, and to drive back to the hotel. It was quiet, no one talked about anything the entirety of the trip. Once back in the hotel, Dean locked the door after Sam entered, and then locked himself in the bathroom, the shower going full blast when he entered it. As he washed his body and hair he could hear John cursing from the other room, and he suddenly felt bad for Jess, just there and having to watch it all unfold. He should do something, but he couldn't. It was something out of his hands and out of his control, something he would never probably control. All he knew was that Cas's parents were complete and total asses, and he hoped they didn't stay at their home for too long, because Dean didn't know if he could go the rest of his visit without seeing Cas when he lived so close. Nothing was going the way he had hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So chapters will most likely come monthly from now on since school is about to start back up. I'm planning a sequel rather than just an epilogue chapter, so I might end this off with a cliffhanger. You can check my crwf tag on my tumblr (url is andcastiel) for updates on what's to happen in the future.


	14. Sick

Castiel did not like the plane ride home. It wasn't a long one, since they didn't live that far away from Paris, but the whole time Anna and Balthazar just stayed silent. This seemed like something someone would want, but right now Castiel needed to yell; he needed to let off all the anger he had been harboring towards his parents, but he couldn't. He was forced to wait on the plane by the window seat, and in the car while they drove home. Anna and Balthazar were originally supposed to stay with their parents for another week, but it seemed that many drastic things had occurred. They got back to the house early in the morning around two, and the first thing Castiel did was storm to his room, slamming the door behind him.

  
To say at this point that Castiel was mad would be an understatement; he was furious. The one good thing to really have happened in his life had just been stripped from him, and he was expected to just sit at home and deal with it. He knew he very well could not do that. He also knew that if he really wanted to do anything with Dean he would need to wait till Tuesday; that was if they were still going to Versailles today.

  
It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair that the one time Castiel wanted to show his parents something, to have them meet someone, they completely reject them. He rarely wanted to show anyone anything, so why this time did it blow up in his face? It must have been something about work, his parents had already been angry when they talked to the Winchesters, there was no other way. It didn't matter now though and Castiel could feel himself slowly dropping down into a pit he probably would not come out of for a long time. His head began to hurt and he was suddenly very cold, though sweat started to bead on his forehead. He moved to his bed and got under the covers, pulling the extra blanket that always seemed to be pushed to the edge onto himself; it didn't help.

  
Apparently at some point Castiel had drifted to sleep because he woke up to someone knocking on his door.

  
"Cas? Can I come in?" It was Anna, and Castiel groaned a weak approval soon after she knocked again. The door opened to let his older sister in, her hair back in a tight bun, her face clear of hair and makeup. "Are you feeling alright?"

  
"No," Castiel sat up in bed as he answered, a cough rising just a second afterwards. "I could use some tea."

  
"I'll get that for you, but before... is there anything you want to talk about?" Anna sat at the foot of his bed, her eyes no longer filled with the joy and devilishness he was used to.

  
"No, but I do want to know, would you and Balthazar really tell on me if I went over to see Dean again?" He began to cough after his question, and his throat felt so dry he was sure someone must have used a vacuum to suck out the moisture. He looked to his sister again, and a small smirk was on her face as she looked towards her folded hands in her lap.

  
"Did you honestly think we would? We know he makes you happy, and Balthazar isn't that big of a dick. You'll just have to plan carefully. They're coming home for the rest of the month."

  
"Just in time for them to leave, you mean."  
"Exactly."

  
"I need to talk to Dean."

"You mean you haven't yet?"

"No, I've been meaning to get to it, but I fell asleep."

"Cas, he's probably dying thinking about what happened. You call him, and I'll make you some tea, okay?"

"Thank you, Anna."

"No problem," she smiled, and leaned forward to kiss his forehead, frowning afterwards. "I think you might be getting a fever." She sighed and stood up, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her. 

Castiel had no clue what he was going to say to Dean. He was so upset with his parents and couldn't actually believe last night had happened. They hadn't been able to see the fireworks because his stupid parents were too stuck up. Just thinking more about it made him angrier, and that wasn't what he needed right now. He needed to call Dean and make sure everything was alright, though he didn't want to call if they were doing anything. He juggled the chance that they might be at Versailles, since it was just around eleven in the morning, and dialed the number. The phone rang on the other side before it was picked up.

"Cas?"

"Hi Dean."

"How are you calling me? Aren't your parents there?"

"I'm in my room, and they went back to Germany. They'll be back home for a few weeks after." Castiel almost didn't want them to come home, something he had never wished before.

"Oh, well, we're coming home today, and uh, are Anna and Balthazar..?"

"They don't care. They both think our parents went a bit too far by saying what they did."

"Well, when we get home, I'll come over and see you. My parents aren't too happy about what happened either, and it's really my fault. Sorry Cas."

"Don't take it on yourself, I knew they wouldn't be too impressed, but what happened was more than I could have ever imagined. Dean, I should be the one apologizing." Castiel lied down on his bed, staring at the ceiling as a silence overtook the phone call. He could hear Dean walking around outside somewhere, his feet crunching on gravel, and Cas wondered how Versailles looked this time of year.

"Cas, I'll make this up to you. Do you know how long your parents will be home after they get back?"

"No. Probably a few weeks, they usually stay that long when they're home."

"Damn it. Well, we'll figure something out."

"I don't think I'll be able to go to Benny's house though."

"Then I'm not gonna see you the last week I'm here," Dean's voice grew quieter as he finished his sentence, and Castiel wanted to scream and rip something apart. It wasn't like he always met someone fantastic over summer, and it wasn't like his parents approved of everyone, so why couldn't he just continue to meet with Dean and his family? He didn't care if his parents thought they were corrupting him in any way, because they were more loving than his parents had really ever been in the last ten years of his life. Cas's head began to hurt, and he suddenly felt very cold, bringing his blanket more over him and lying back down. 

"Well, where is Benny staying? I could convince my cousins to come to France for a week or so. They have a house down south."

"I think he lives near Bordeaux? I'm not sure. He lives outside a big city."

"My cousins' house is right outside Bordeaux! Maybe I'll visit them while you're at Benny's and we could just meet up."

"That'd be awesome. We can talk about it later, okay? I have to go now. Cas, I'll see you later, alright?"

"Okay. Bye Dean."

"Bye Cas." Dean hung up the phone after that, and Castiel's heart was still racing. He was going to be able to see Dean, and his parents would give him permission, if even in an underhand way, to do so. It would just take a few more calls to his cousins and for him to ask his parents when they came home, and he'd be able to see him. The number was on the tips of his fingers, about to punch them in, when he began to sneeze violently, his head shaking back and fourth seven times before he was sitting normal again wiping at his nose. Castiel was about to get up and walk over to his desk to get his tissues, but his head suddenly felt very light and he was forced to sit back down to blink it away. Anna entered his room just about then with a small cup on a plate, along with a thermometer. 

"Alright, so before you can drink this I need to take your temperature," Anna shook the small stick a few times, checking it before putting it under Cas's tongue. Not too long after she took it out and sighed, looking to Cas. "You need to stay in bed until your fever goes down. You're burning up."

"What am I at?" Castiel didn't think this was the best time to be getting sick, but he couldn't help it if he was.

  
"You're about 38, so you're confined. I'll make you some soup, grandma's old recipe, and you just rest, alright? No getting up or exerting force or anything of the like until your fever has gone down. Understood?"

  
"Understood. Though could you at least make sure my flowers get watered? I haven't tended to them for about a week." Castiel knew he should take better care of them, and water them more often in the heat, but he hadn't been here, and he couldn't really now that he was stuck in his room.

  
"Sure, just stay here, alright? Now get better bug," Anna ruffled his hair, then left the room, closing the door behind her. Cas promptly sneezed after she did, and he reached for his tissues to wipe his nose with. He could at least get something done while he was in bed, and he quickly dialed his cousin's number, forgetting that where they were in America they were five hours behind him.

* * *

Versailles hadn't been that exciting, mainly for the reason that Jessica had only been there once before and everything was as new to her as it was to them. She of course knew the history for the great palace, but she had only been a toddler when she'd come for the first time. They ended up only spending the morning there, and then leaving and heading home, getting there about four in the afternoon. Everyone was tired, and Sam had seen and heard how distressed Dean was, even if his older brother was trying to hide it. Jessica had planned to stay the night at their house anyways, her parents would be picking her up the next morning, and so for the afternoon, she and Sam were in his room, the stillness of the house penetrating even there.

  
Jessica was lying on his bed, facing the ceiling with her hair fanned out behind her, her hands folded over her stomach. Sam was on the chair next to the desk, rotating it slowly around. There wasn't anything to do, Paris had been their major event of the entire summer, at least from what he knew. Now they were just stuck until the last week came and they spent the days and nights at Benny's house. Of course he wasn't thinking about that though, because Castiel's parents hadn't just insulted Dean, they'd insulted the whole family, and Sam sort of hated them right about now. He liked hanging out with Cas when he wasn't making out with Dean, he was an awesome friend, but now he couldn't see him anymore, and well, he probably wouldn't see Jessica all that much either after she was to go home the next day.

  
The room was dark when the door opened again, the only light coming from the crack in the curtains, as both Jessica and Sam had fallen asleep, though he on the ground and her on the bed.

  
"Kids, dinner time," Mary woke them both up gently, and they got up, joining the rest at the table. No one spoke while they ate a meal no one even remembered five minutes after they'd eaten it. They all sat around the table, and Dean was fidgeting with his fork when Mary sighed. "We planned another trip. We're going to Château de Chambord. We'll be going a few days before we go to Bordeaux, so it'll be our last real trip. Until then we have nothing planned, but we might take another day trip to the beach. We have to talk it over." Mary smiled at all of them, though Sam could tell that even she was put off by what had happened the day before. They all took their dishes to the kitchen, and Sam and Jessica retreated to his room quietly.

  
Once there, Sam took a deck of cards out from his bag and began to deal them out; a few games of speed and maybe something else would just help to calm down.  
"I can't believe what happened yesterday," Jessica whispered, as though if she were to speak any louder she would break some sort of barrier the family had made around themselves to protect from the harm that was done to them.

  
"Me either. I mean, what kind of person just says that? I'm kinda glad they didn't find out about Dean and Cas, they seemed like they would've killed him if they knew."

"I don't doubt that they would do something similar to that. They were wary of me when Castiel and I first became friends," one of the games was over, Jessica had beaten Sam out flat, and he was quick to shuffle and deal again. 

"Hopefully your parents aren't like that."

"They aren't. They're really quite nice, and they'd probably love you."

"Well I hope I can meet them someday," Sam stopped, realizing what he said, and that caused him to lose another game, the cards dropping out of his hands as his face started to turn red. 

"I'll make sure of it," Jess smiled at him, her face pink as well, as if understanding what he was trying to say, even if he hadn't really meant it. He smiled back and they continued with their cards, their moods lifted at least slightly from what had happened the day before, maybe even partially forgetting that it even happened.

* * *

He had planned to go and return Castiel's suitcase that day, but that was before he got a text on their way home that Cas was sick, and he had a fever. Dean did not like that. He needed to get over there as soon as possible to make sure he was okay, to make sure that they were okay, and to return his stuff, but the latter wasn't on the forefront of Dean's mind at that moment. Ever since Cas had left he had not been okay; he didn't even remotely know what was going on around him anymore because Cas was usually with them. Cas was basically a part of their family trip, and now he was gone, and it just felt weird, there was no other way for Dean to explain it. It was as though they were on a whole different vacation without Cas there, and Dean didn't like that. Versailles of course went by in a flash, especially when Cas had called him, and now he was home and getting sleepy after dinner. That was when his phone rang, a familiar number showing on the screen.

"Cas?"

"Actually it's Anna. I was wondering if you could wait untill Thursday to bring Cas's bag back over. He's asleep in bed, and he's gotten worse. I don't know if he'll be completely better by then, but hopefully his fever will have gone down."

"Oh, okay. Uh, is there anything we can do? I mean, to help him get better?" Dean was worried about Cas, he'd gotten sick out of the blue, nothing had shown that he was getting ill while he had been with them, so he hoped it wasn't something serious. 

"Just don't ignore him. He's on the fence as it is, and ready to fall off. Just text him every once and a while and talk about normal things. Don't get him too distressed by anything."

"Alright, I can do that. Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Awesome, don't text him tonight though, maybe just later tomorrow morning or something? Not too early or late, he needs all the rest he can get."

"I understand. Uh, tell him I hope he gets well soon, and we'll wash his clothes and fold them for him. 

"Thank you Dean. I'm glad he has you," Anna then hung up the phone after that, leaving Dean standing in the middle of his room with his phone to his ear. He couldn't do anything to help Cas, and the fact that he was sick did not comfort him in the slightest, even if Anna seemed to know what to do. It just meant he needed to do what he could around his own house, maybe clean and do homework to distract himself, something so he wasn't dwelling on their eventual departure in only about three weeks. 

What he did do after that was start Cas's clothes in the washer. He had his own load that needed to be done, but he still had some clothes that were clean before that had to happen. He brought his book down into the basement to read while the clothes tumbled around to get washed and after dried. It didn't take that long, and by the end, Dean was folding the clothes and putting them neatly back in Cas's bag, zipping it up and placing it next to his bedroom door. By the time that was done it was only around nine, and he was still too jittery to even think about lying down to sleep. 

Instead, Dean turned on his laptop, opening up his email and chatting with his friends back home over Skype and through email, since they would all be awake by now. He was able to talk to Benny, who was already in France in his house with his grandparents. He was able to tell him about what happened, and what should be happening later when he was to come over. Apparently Benny's neighbors were almost never home, and had another house in America, and it made Dean think that maybe Cas's cousins' house was next door; it would be a lot easier if that were true, but they had no way of knowing since Dean wasn't suppose to be talking to his boyfriend this late. 

"Dean, you've sure got it bad," Benny said over the phone, and Dean frowned, leaning back in his wheeled chair.

"What do you mean? I'm not sick, he is."

"That's not what I meant. You've gone all soft for this guy, that's what I meant."

"He's my boyfriend, am I not supposed to care about him?"

"Well, seeing as back home you never were in a relationship for more than a week or two before you were too scared to continue, yeah. He's something different, and that's good. Just make sure to keep tabs on him."

"What?"

"Keep talkin' to him when you've gone back to America. I don't really see this ending at all with you two apart, and I haven't even met him yet."

"I'll keep that in mind. Just, don't scare him off like you did my last girlfriend."

"I didn't scare her off, she was just scared of me and didn't like hanging out with you while I was around. You knew that wasn't going to work."

"Right. Well, it's like two in the morning. I'm going to bed."

"Alright, see you in August. You should text me more, just sayin'. Maybe send me a picture of Cas, so I can size him up, see if he's worthy."

"He's worthy, alright? And I don't need you to approve of him when I already do. Go to bed Benny."

His friend was chuckling on the other side of the line, "Whatever man, good night.'

"'Night Benny." Dean hung up the phone, a smirk on his face. His friends were supportive, he knew that, even though they liked to play around with him more often than not. Dean readied himself for bed, brushing his teeth and stripping down to his boxers before slipping under the blanket on his bed. It felt too big, but he needed to focus on sleeping, not the fact that Castiel wasn't next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this marks crwf officially being my longest written work!! anyways, i hope you guys like it, and i hope i'm able to pull out another chapter before school starts, because after that i don't know how often updates will be.


	15. A Home Coming of Sorts

Early in the morning, Dean had gotten a phone call from Anna saying it would be fine if he were to come over that day, and of course that meant he needed to get ready. Dean spent the whole morning making sure that Cas's things, which he still hadn't returned, were in order, and that he was clean and presentable. He hadn't seen Cas since Paris, and he was kind of scared about what could happen. What if Cas thought they shouldn't see each other anymore? Dean didn't know what he would do if that happened, but he knew it probably wouldn't; Dean tried to keep good thoughts in his head for the rest of the day before he was leaving to walk down to his boyfriend's house.

  
The walk was dull, the sun beating down on Dean's exposed skin as he made his way over to the other house. He'd needed to be sure that Castiel would be awake, and so he had only begun walking a little before one. He wore jeans and one of his short sleeved flannels, dragging the suitcase behind him, sometimes picking it up and carrying it. The road was worn, his eyes catching the multiple cracks and potholes that lined it, and there didn't seem to be a line separating the sides, which meant it must not be frequented too often. It wasn't too long after Dean was starting to get bored with the walk that he could see his destination ahead of him, and he made his way briskly on the side of the road to get there.

  
Dean stood in front of the door, staring at it as he thought of what could happen. Cas could open the door and ask for his things then just close it right on him. Dean shook his head at that, because that couldn't possibly happen, they were going out, and they, well they really liked each other from what he could tell. He pressed the door bell reluctantly and took a step back from the door, looking straight ahead as he waited for someone to answer it. Only a few minutes later Balthazar did, and Cas's older brother rushed him inside and closed the door behind them.

  
"Cassie's asleep right now, you should drop off his case and then leave, or at least just don't disturb him alright?"

  
"Really? I called before and he was awake."

  
"Balthazar, what are you telling him?" Castiel was walking down from the stairs as he said this, pushing his brother away as he walked up to Dean. His face still looked somewhat pale compared to how tan it usually was in the sunlight; his eyes were weary and bloodshot, apparently still trying to get over whatever he had caught. Cas smiled at him, and Dean smiled back automatically, his muscles relaxing at the sight. "I'm glad you could make it. Our parents just called and said they should be home in less than a half hour, so you don't have long." Cas then pulled on Dean's free hand and began climbing the stairs back up to his room.  
Once there, Cas took the suitcase, placing it in front of his wardrobe, and then closed his bedroom door.

  
"You still look pretty sick. You sure you're okay to be out of bed?"

  
"I'm fine, Dean. I'm just tired. I didn't sleep well last night."

  
"I guess that's both of us then," Dean chuckled, sitting on Cas's bed, watching as the other boy moved around his room, moving things in small ways and just keeping his body moving.

  
"I'm so sorry about what happened at Paris Dean. I didn't think it would go like that. I had been hoping so much that we'd have a good time, and I'd be able to show you around Versailles, and it's all my fault, I shouldn't have gone with you, and I should have just-" Castiel took a large breath and just slumped to the ground, his hands covering his face, and Dean swore he could hear him crying. Dean was on the floor next to Cas in seconds, his arms around him, trying to get Cas's hands from his face.  
"It's not your fault, Cas. We never could have known that would've happened. I don't care, it's fine alright? It's not like they can keep us from seeing each other," Dean tried to smile, but he was in pain too. He wouldn't be able to just come over whenever he wanted for the rest of the summer, and neither would Cas.  
"It is though. It's my parents, and I have to listen to them. I just. ... I just don't think this is going to end well."

  
"Cas, look at me," Dean moved to be sitting in front of Cas, keeping their hands linked as he looked into Cas's eyes, tears still running down his face. He was so tired, it was clearly written everywhere on his skin, in the bruises under his eyes, and in the way he held himself. Dean kept his gaze, and then just pulled him forward, Cas's head against his shoulder, and he let him cry. They both knew what this meant. It meant they wouldn't be able to really see each other the rest of the summer until maybe the last week Dean's family was in France, and it wouldn't be easy to get that planned out. They could always get away to the tree house, now that Dean thought about it, but he didn't want to chance Cas getting caught sneaking out from his house. "It's gonna be fine. We can still talk, even after I've left, they can't stop us doing that. They won't be here forever, and then we can talk on webcams, I'll get up extra early for you, and it'll be fine. I-I don't want to leave you just as some summer fling or something, you understand that?" Dean brought Cas back up again, to look at him. The other boy was wiping his face before he nodded, leaning back on his feet to look at Dean.

  
"I understand. Dean... I think, this might be really weird, but I think-"

"CASTIEL!"

* * *

Freezing where he was, Castiel looked towards the door, his eyes wide. Balthazar opened it not a second later, closing it behind him.

  
"Dean needs to leave now. They're downstairs, and they want to see you. Get out the window, and run through the forest, just don't let them see you!" Balthazar moved towards Dean, lifting him from the ground and pushing him towards the window. There was a ledge outside, so Cas knew Dean could easily get down. Castiel rose after him, grabbing Dean's shirt and pulling him close into a fast and rather bruising kiss.

  
"Text me later, okay?"

  
"Of course. Bye Cas. Talk to you later," Dean smiled weakly, and then was opening the window and getting out as though he'd done something like this before, and not just once. Cas watched after him only for a second before he was walking out of his room and heading back downstairs to see his parents. They had numerous bags about them, waiting to be taken to their forgotten room on the second floor. They were both on their cell phones now, and both Anna and Balthazar went to pick up some of their bags. Cas took the smaller ones, carrying a few of them up to their parents bedroom, placing them on the bed next to the others. When he met his siblings back downstairs, their parents were off their phones.

  
"It's so nice to finally be home, though it looks like the maid's run off, otherwise I didn't think it could actually get this dirty," Hester walked over to one of the shelves, wiping her finger and bringing dust back. She just rubbed it off and turned again, smiling at her children and opening her arms. Castiel didn't want to go to her to get a hug, he was done with his parents, but Anna nudged his back and they all went forward, a small group hug for only a few seconds, and then awkward shuffling as they all said nothing, though Zachariah seemed busy with something on his phone.

  
"Children, your mother and I will be going to Blain tomorrow to pick up some groceries and to see if we can find another maid to hire. Until then we're unpacking, and we'll be down for dinner. I trust you can handle that," Zachariah smiled before taking Hester's hand and leading her upstairs, leaving their children to watch after them.  
"I think we were all adopted to be quite honest," Balthazar said once they were out of earshot. Anna slapped him over the head.

  
"We just don't have any of their traits, you know, except for being smart. Just get started on dinner, and Cas, go back to bed. You look worse than you did this morning," Anna shot Cas a worried glance before he nodded and started is trek back upstairs. He didn't want to leave his room until school started again, but he knew he would need to, but at least for right now he had an excuse to stay inside and alone.

  
Once there, he closed and locked the door, leaning against it until he was sitting on the floor with his legs out in front of him. Tears fell slowly down his cheeks, and he didn't do anything to stop or dry them, just leaning against the door and wishing things could be different. He had to stay in France for university, or he wouldn't be able to get out of the country at all, because he had no money of his own, at least not enough to get him to America with the price of plane tickets lately. There was just so much pushing into his mind, leaving him tired and weary and vulnerable to all the emotions the different thoughts made him feel; he was overwhelmed more than he even knew. Castiel got up then, standing while using the wall for support. He moved over to his bed and lied down, facing away from the door as he tried to drift back to sleep. It didn't take long, but then again he was worn out from everything that had happened, from everything that could happen, and the latter scared and worried him more.

* * *

It was past seven in the evening when Castiel was being woken by his mother, who sat on his bed, shaking his shoulder lightly.  
"Castiel, it's time for dinner."  
"What?" He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking at his mother and remembering everything that had happened that afternoon; Castiel almost started crying right then, and would have had he not cared about telling his mother the real problem with everything that was going on.

  
"It took a while to get everything ready, but the table is set and the food is there too. We're waiting for you," Hester smiled again, patted his shoulder twice, and stood up, leaving him in the room. That was when Cas remembered he'd locked his door, and that he really could never be left any privacy.

  
He got up, wiping his face and running some water over it before he joined his family at the table. The twins sat across from him, Zachariah at the head, and Hester at the foot of the table. He pulled in his chair and looked at all of them. They said grace, and ate their dinner silently, and Castiel very much missed dinner with the Winchesters. Their parents began talking about their next trip, about how they were working from home until August, and that they hoped to spend a lot of time with their children while they could, even though all of them were adults in one sense or another. It didn't seem to matter, and Castiel just kept quiet, eating his food without speaking up or against anything, while Anna was sure to make her voice heard. She had another student the next week and had to go to Nantes, so she couldn't do anything, and she wanted to bring Cas to get him out of the house and somewhere he wasn't too familiar, since he never stayed longer than an hour or two there. Balthazar began about needing to meet up with some friends for planes in a few weeks, and that he could be gone a few days, and that was where their father drew the line.

  
"None of you are leaving! You're to stay here the next two weeks, and if you sneak out I will kick you out of this family, and cut you off from any financial support you may need," he exhaled, then settled himself. "Your mother and I have plans to go to the beach once, and to just spend time together as a family. Maybe we can finally get that vegetable garden going, instead of just those useless flowers." Zachariah ate his last bite of food, and Castiel stared at him, his fork having fallen from his hand and onto his plate. He stood and pushed his plate forward.

  
"I'm going to throw up," he said, and he pushed his stomach inwards, and his head suddenly became light before he was forced forward as his dinner was forced backwards through his mouth and onto the table. His mother screamed, and Anna had his arm in seconds after he stopped, leading him towards the kitchen to clean up. Balthazar was in the dining room, making sure everything was either tossed or put into the sink while Anna made sure her little brother was doing alright.

  
"Castiel, he had no right to say that. It was so wrong of him, and I'm going to talk to him, just wait here, alright? You know what? No. I'm going to help you to your room. Can you walk without help?" Anna kept a hand or both on him at all times, and Cas just nodded before getting up from the chair in the kitchen and stumbling over to the stairs. His sister helped more than he liked to admit as they climbed the stairs and he changed out of his shirt into something clean. He was lied down in his bed before he was allowed to say anything else.

  
"Where's my phone?" Castiel croaked, trying to sit up and failing. Anna looked around his room before grabbing it off the ground next to the desk and handing it to him. He had several text messages and missed calls, and he cursed himself, unlocking it and looking at what Dean had left him.

  
"I'll be back if you need anything. Just rest, okay?" Anna pushed her hair behind her ear before sighing and closing the door, leaving Castiel alone. He wanted to call Dean, but he knew he couldn't right now, not when his parents were home and in the room next to his. He just read the texts:  
  
 **Dean:** Cas, I made it home. Is everything alright? Your parents seemed pretty mad when I heard them.  
 **Dean:** You there, Cas? Did it go worse than I thought?  
 **Dean:** Cas?  
 **Dean:** Dammit Cas I'm gonna come back over if you don't reply.

The last text was from only eight minutes ago, and Castiel quickly replied.  
  
 **Castiel:** I'm fine. We had dinner and I vomited over the table.  
 **Dean:** Really? Wow, so I guess you're not up to getting out to the treehouse tonight.  
 **Castiel:** Not tonight, but tomorrow. My parents will be gone during the day, we could just hang out there. I don't know if I won't vomit again.  
 **Dean:** If you're parents are gonna be gone I might as well just go over to your house. Tell me when they leave and I'll be over ASAP.  
 **Castiel:** I will. I can't wait to see you again.  
 **Dean** : Same here. And hey uh, what were you gonna say before you were interrupted earlier?  
  
Castiel was frozen in bed on his side, his phone out in front of him. He knew what he was going to say, and he knew that he meant it now, but did he want to tell Dean? What if he didn't reciprocate? He couldn't tell him, not now when their relationship was on the fringes; he didn't want to lose the one thing he had that he wanted to keep. There wasn't anything Cas could tell him, so he just turned off his phone. Tomorrow if Dean asked, he would just say he fell asleep, that he had been dozing off and was out before he could reply. It wasn't that hard to believe right? Castiel placed his phone on his nightstand and turned over in bed, pulling his blankets over him more before he tried to fall asleep. He needed to not think about tomorrow, especially about the fact that he was probably going to finally tell Dean he loved him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm taking all questions for this fic and anything else to put in a video! if you have a question, go to http://andcastiel.tumblr.com/ask and ask away! Thank you for reading!!


	16. Broken

As soon as Cas texted Dean that he should head out to the tree house, he was out. He had food in a backpack along with a blanket and some cards. He didn't know what they would be doing, but it would be better to be prepared right? The walk wasn't long, Dean jogging and walking fast to get to the tree house. Cas was closer to it, so when Dean could hear someone walking up and around in the small building, he smiled and began climbing the planks nailed onto the trunk. He knocked on the small door at the bottom, and Cas lifted it up, helping him in before closing it again and sitting on the bed. Dean looked at him, and couldn't decide whether he looked worse or not than he had been the day before. 

"I'm getting better. I don't have a fever anymore, and I haven't coughed since-" he coughed. Dean smiled, sitting next to him. 

"You need to rest more when you get home, okay? We don't need to worry about seeing each other that much more, we'll text and call and email, and that'll have to be enough until we can get to Bordeaux."

"I don't know yet if I can go or not. My cousins haven't gotten back to me, and.. Dean you're leaving in three weeks."

"I know, it's stupid. I tried to have my parents push back the date, but I can't change my dad's work. He'll get fired if he's gone anymore."

"We have next week and the week after here, and I don't know if I want to go that long without seeing you. I won't be anywhere near you afterwards, Dean."

"I know, Cas. I know," Dean's voice got quieter as he said this. Things were moving by and he couldn't do anything about it. It was like this trip to France wasn't even a vacation so much as somewhere he met someone fantastic, someone he would never forget, and damn if Dean felt stupid for feeling that way, he was only 17 for god's sake. Things like this weren't supposed to happen until he was older and he knew what he wanted to do with his life, his life wasn't supposed to be shaped by something like this the way it was now, but he couldn't stop it. What he and Cas had wasn't something he could let go of, and he knew that something was going to happen, maybe not now, but in the future, and he had no clue what it was, and it scared him. What were they supposed to do until then? Just have long distance phone calls both of them will have to pay for? Emails that wil be returned hours or maybe days after being sent? Any kind of communication would be skewed by the time difference, and well, it was just another way the world was fucking them over. 

"Dean, I think we should just forget about us," Castiel finally said, breaking a silence Dean hadn't even recognized. 

"What the fuck Cas?" He was the one that was trying so hard to see him all the damn time! Why would he give up now? They had this tree house to use for themselves, and what the hell were they supposed to do other than that, he didn't know, but giving up seemed just so cowardly. Dean turned to make it so they were facing one another on the cot, his hands on his shoulders as he looked him in the eye. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say, Cas. I don't-" he paused, collecting himself for just a split second, "I don't wanna just forget you after this summer, okay? Maybe in a few years we could hook up, just hang out, we don't have to end here, man."

"I don't know if I can just wait this through. My parents hate you, and they'll try their hardest to keep me from anything they think bad or unworthy. I just, Dean, I love you." Cas stared back at Dean, tears welling in the corners of his eyes, and he couldn't help but see how vulnerable and weak Cas seemed to be right now. Yes of course what he'd said occured to Dean, but he couldn't return it, not now. They were freaking teenagers still trying to dance around their parents. Dean was choked up, unable to say anything, and his lack of response was what drove Cas to stand up. "I knew I shouldn't have helped you, or just.. I should have stayed away. I understand if you don't reciprocate, but you could have at least said something." Cas then stood up, shaking Dean's hand off of him, and opened the hatch to get down the tree. 

"Cas, be careful," Dean said without thinking, and he watched as Cas tried to quickly descend the steps, his foot missing one and his hand letting go of the one above him; he was falling. Cas crumpled to the ground, his face covered in pain as he didn't cry out, and Dean moved fast to get down the steps, making sure to have firm footing before he was next to Cas. "What happened? What hurts?"

"My ankle. Don't touch it!" Cas jerked and screamed in pain, and Dean was quick to maneuver Cas into his arms, trying to carry him without having to use too much strength. Cas wasn't the lightest, and soon, Dean was walking as fast as he could back to Cas's house.

* * *

He was hurting in more ways than one; his heart ached for what he'd done, for what he'd put out there. His heart was clearly on his shoulder now, blaring his love for Dean, and the object of his affections didn't return it. Cas's ankle was pulsing, and he was sure he'd broken it, the pain feeling like knives entering his foot and just twisting around. Clinging to Dean, tears running down his face, he tried to calm down. He couldn't do anything about this now, he was stuck in his arms, he only wished it wasn't this kind of circumstance. 

"Dean... Just let me walk from the shed. I can't let them see you."

"I can't do that."

"Dean!"

"Cas, just shut the fuck up and let me take care of you god dammit." Dean almost growled as he said this, and Castiel just nodded, trying not to focus on the pain that was overtaking almost every other sensation his body was feeling at that moment. He wanted to be away from this, he wanted to just go and die in a hole where no one would have known he existed, but he couldn't now, not with Dean being like he was. He needed him, and the fact that Dean didn't feel the same way almost killed him. 

"Anna and Balthazar, they should be home, just... Stop at the back door," Cas breathed, weight suddenly being put on his ankle, making him scream again, Dean stopped to try and adjust how he was holding him. It was more bridal style right now, and it would have been funny not given the circumstances. 

"Cas, I'm gonna help you okay."

"Dean, I don't want you to." Cas had to say it. Dean wasn't going to be someone he wanted to be around, it wouldn't be healthy for him. Castiel was still crying, the tears drying on his face and making his skin feel too tight, much like his chest had been feeling ever since he told him. 

"Fine, whatever I'll drop you off at your back door and make sure Anna and Balth come and get you." Dean's voice was taut, and Castiel knew he shouldn't have done that. Any chance of maybe making up, or at least talking this out was put to rest with just five words, and it was over. 

"I'm so-"

"Stow it, Cas. I'm done. I'm sorry, okay? But for now, just be quiet so I can walk," Dean didn't look at him anymore, and Cas just clung to him, watching as they passed the shed and they approached the back door. Cas sat on the back step, his leg stretched out and his face contorted with pain as Dean explained to Anna and Balthazar what had happened, and Cas was glad his parents weren't home quite yet. Dean left without saying goodbye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's only one or two chapters left! i hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as i have writing it! and if you didn't see the video, i'll be writing a sequel! but i don't know yet when i'll start that, so just sit tight! thank you for reading!


	17. Bordeaux

His cousins' house in Bordeaux was extravagant, and that of course meant that Castiel would get plenty of alone time. It had been two weeks since he'd broken his ankle, and now in a proper cast with crutches, Castiel made his way around the bottom floor, trying to busy himself to try and make it like he wasn't expecting a text from someone. He'd messaged Sam earlier in the day, and had yet to receive a reply, and he knew that the Winchesters would be at the house just next door, the Lafitte residence, so he knew Sam had gotten his message. That didn't mean he wasn't nervous, because he was. He felt so stupid for what he had said to Dean, and it felt like it was too late to really fix it, but he wanted to say goodbye.

  
The two hadn't talked since Dean left his house, and Cas had had to explain to his parents how he'd broken his ankle, something his brother and sister were both helpful in making up a lie for. He'd fallen from the stairs, as he'd been reading a book and wasn't holding the hand rail, something he had in fact done before without sustaining an injury. His cast itched, and he wished his toes would stop getting cold and uncomfortable, but he couldn't do anything about it for another seven weeks. Of course by now he'd wandered through all the rooms on the bottom floor, since he couldn't climb the stairs, and he was bored. His room no longer held any fascination, and his cousins were all out on a trip, leaving his family there alone till they were to come back home later in the day.   
Around two in the afternoon, a good five hours after Cas had texted Sam, his phone started ringing. He hurried to his room, locking the door behind him, and answered it.

  
"Hello?"

  
"Cas, what the hell happened?" Sam's voice seemed a little strained, and Cas just sat down on his bed, closing his eyes before trying to explain the situation. Apparently Dean hadn't told his family anything, but they knew the two of them had fought about something. "Dean's been pissy since, and Benny's getting real annoyed about it. Just, come on man, tell me. It's bad enough that he won't."

  
"I grew upset, and I told him we shouldn't be together since he's leaving," Cas barely whispered it into the receiver, not really happy about what he'd done. He regretted it more than anything, but it seemed too late to take it back now. He didn't hear anything on the other end except small puffs of air blowing across the receiver, and he sighed, his head in his hand.

  
"Cas, you know he likes you a lot, right?"

  
"I told him I loved him and he didn't say anything," Cas almost spat back, mumbling an apology right after, not wanting to alienate himself from both brothers. Nothing was going his way, but he could at least prevent himself from being completely alone.

  
"He's always been like this Cas. He's never had a relationship for more than a week or two, and you were with him for over a month. It's not a lot, but it was to him, and he's just hurt now. I can't do anything about it," Sam's voice died off, and it only made Cas feel worse. Cas hated that he had seemed so demanding when he'd told Dean he loved him, he'd seemed like a selfish bastard, trying to get affection he knew he no longer deserved.

  
"I'm so sorry. It's all my fault, and I can't do this anymore Sam."

  
"Cas, it's fine, you just need-" Castiel hung up the phone, turning it off and placing it on his nightstand before slowly swinging his legs over to be on top of his bed. This was too much, he couldn't lose them, but it wouldn't help if he did anything else either, Dean was no longer interested in him, he was furious with him it seemed, and Cas felt he deserved it.

* * *

Sam threw his phone onto his bed, keeping his shouts in until he brought his pillow up to his face. He couldn't tell Dean that he knew what had happened, and the two jackasses were too dumb to see they were both stupidly in love with each other. Dean was just slow to realizing it, but Sam had seen it a while back, and he was growing tired of his brother not accepting his feelings. Sam walked out of his room towards the living room to see Dean and Benny playing Mariokart on the large tv, Benny beating Dean flat, his older brother growing quite heated about it. 

"Dean, you've gotta use bikes."

"That's a fucking lie, it's all about the karts. Another race. No, not Rainbow Road!" The race started and Sam sighed, moving to sit on the couch behind them. Benny was a bit bigger than both of them, not just height wise, he had a sturdy figure, and it made him seem a bit more mature, older maybe. Sam didn't like him all that much, but he was Dean's friend, so he just tried not to think about it too hard. Benny's grandparents were out with theirs to buy some party favors, something they wanted to treat the neighborhood with. The four other houses within a five miles of theirs would be invited, though apparently one of them was empty. 

Sam knew that meant they'd be inviting the Milton's, Cas's cousins, to come to the party, and that meant that maybe, just maybe, Cas would be coming, and hopefully the two butt-heads would be able to make up somewhat, at least that was what Sam thought about while his brother continued to race his friend. After they finished their set of four races, they asked him if he wanted to join, and he did despite wanting to finish his last book for English. 

It was around four in the afternoon when their parents returned, and they helped to get all the groceries into the house, getting things ready for the party. They were having it the next day, but they could get the moderate decorations up, and could prepare what needed to be marinated for the next day. It wasn't long before they were all eating dinner around the tv with an old French movie on, subtitles underneath so they could try to somewhat understand what was going on. 

Sam got up early the next morning, and after looking at a map and trying to figure out how far away the house Cas was at, ate breakfast, and started his way over there. Cas wouldn't be able to avoid him if he was at his house, and he knew he couldn't escape, not with a broken ankle. It took just a little over a half hour for Sam to jog there, and he was sweating profusely by the time he was ringing a doorbell to a house that must have been at least ten times grander than the place they were staying. The house looked to be two stories with an attic, the porch was large and had chairs and a table, and even a small bench swing. Sam waited, his hands on his hips as he caught his breath until the door opened, revealing a man only an inch taller than himself, a lollipop in his mouth. 

"Salut, Qui êtes-vous?" His French was perfect, unfortunately, Sam didn't know what he said. 

"I don't speak French, anyways, is Castiel here?"

"Who wants to know?"

"His ex-boyfriend's younger brother." Sam was getting annoyed, Cas should have been able to answer the door, but he understood why he hadn't. The man looked him over, then shrugged, letting him in and closing the door behind him. Sam looked around the foyer and almost gaped, the surroundings so amazing to his eyes. It looked as though it could have been part of Versailles. 

"His bedroom is down the hall, third door on the left. Just don't get anything dirty or sweaty, okay?" The man then left, and Sam followed his directions to the bedroom. He knocked, and heard Cas bid him in and opened the door. Cas looked up, his face paled, and he nodded for Sam to come in. 

"What the hell Cas."

"Sam, you must understand-"

"No, Cas, you need to understand. Dean may not be able to say it, but he does love you, alright? Sure, it might take a while for him to admit it, but he does, and what you did has ruined him okay? He's been trying to just busy himself with anything. He finished all his homework for school in the last two weeks. He hasn't slept for two days." Sam knew all this, he hadn't been able to sleep well ever since Dean had come home from their argument, and so he learned that Dean was definitely disturbed by something. 

"But he-"

"Cas, get over yourself, okay? If your parents don't approve, fuck them, okay, follow your heart. If you don't you might lose him forever." Sam wanted to get back home. He'd left a note on the kitchen table that he was out jogging and wouldn't be back till maybe lunch, but he knew his parents would be mad at that, especially since he was alone. He was about to leave the room when he heard Cas get up and try to stop him. 

"Could you tell him.. Could you tell him I'm sorry? Please?"

"Tell him yourself. There's a party today, and your family's invited."

"I don't know if I can come.."

  
"Then I guess you want to take the chance to lose him," Sam said flatly, staring at Cas from his doorway. Sam heard footsteps behind him and was relieved when it was just some more of Cas's cousins, and not his parents. He didn't wait for Cas to reply, he waved and left Cas's bedroom door open as he walked back to the door and out, beginning to jog again as he traveled back home.

* * *

Dean kind of did not want to be or take part in anything having to do with the party. He wanted to stay in his room and just not think about the fact that he could not have a good time at this point. Though of course since he was at Benny's house, he had to be a part of it, because it wasn't his house, and it would have been rude. Apparently there was a family that lived right next door that had some party animals, and it was destined to be a good night if they could get all the adults to go and just hang out in a room with some wine. There was so much food Dean wondered what they were going to do with all the leftovers. There was chicken and steak and fish all on one table with various sauces that were both store bought and apparently long family recipes. Desserts had their own table along with vegetables and other snacks. There was soda and alcohol of almost every kind, and really Dean couldn't believe that Benny's family was so completely loaded. 

Around five in the afternoon people started arriving. First was a family of three, an elderly man and his two granddaughters, both of whom Benny seemed to know quite well and talked to them rapidly in French before walking them over to introduce them to Dean. They looked to be twins, both with soft brown hair and light gray eyes, identical moles just underneath their bottom lip. Dean didn't remember their names after they told him, and they both wanted to go see the library, and Benny showed them the way. Dean just waited by the door, letting other people in, and it was around half past six that he knew this was set up. A man named Gabriel came to the door, introduced himself and that he was here with six other people, all getting out of a large van behind him by the fountain. One of them was on crutches, and Dean almost swallowed his tongue. He couldn't refuse him entrance, but he left after he entered, not wanting to see Cas. Dean did not want to see or talk to him, and so he just retreated to his room, something he wasn't used to doing. 

Of course Dean's room was just upstairs, and if he walked out of his door he could see all of the people entering the house, he could see Cas and his family, but he couldn't do it. He needed to be away from him. It didn't seem to matter anymore that he cared for him, because Cas wanted everything, and he wasn't sure if he could do that. Not now at least. He wanted Cas in his life, more than anything, but the fact that he could be so close to someone scared him. What if he let him down? What if Cas just ended up not liking him anymore? Dean wasn't sure if he could live through that, and their one separation was enough to last Dean a life time, he didn't need to go through two. 

It was about an hour later, Dean was listening to his own music as he just played along on his small little handheld game, when there was a knock on his door. Opening it he looked to see Cas, apparently out of breath and leaning heavily on his crutches, his face pink from exertion. 

"What do you want?"

"Dean, I came to say I'm sorry."

"For what? Last I heard I thought you said we shouldn't see each other anymore." He had every right to be mad, Cas couldn't get him for that. He was the one that wanted to be apart, not Dean. 

"I just expected so much from you, and I shouldn't have done that. I'm new to this too, okay?"

"Cas, to be honest. I'm just done. I'm tired. I don't know what we're doing anymore. One moment you love me, the next you don't want to be together anymore? What the fuck do you want Cas?"

"You, Dean!" He was frustrated, but so was Dean. 

"I'm leaving tomorrow night."

"I know, I know you are, but Dean, please. Just.. Just please let me be here with you."

"How the hell did you even climb the stairs?"

"It took a long time."

"Whatever, come in." Dean opened the door wider and let Cas walk in, and he sat on the chair by the desk, Dean leaving the door open to let the music rfrm the bottom floor flow in. Cas was tired, Dean could see it in the way he caught his breath and just sat in the chair. Dean took his place on his bed again and almost put his headphones back in when Cas rose his voice.

"I love you, Dean. I really do, and I'm sorry if you can't say it back, but it doesn't make it any less true."

"What do you expect from me then? If I can't return it?" He sat back up, his hands on the edge almost gripping on the blanket. He wanted to go home and sleep in his bed back in Kansas. Dean couldn't even remember what it felt like at this point. He started school in a couple weeks, he had friends to get back to, but right now all he knew was that he was leaving Cas, and at this point he wasn't sure if that was good or not. 

"I don't expect anything, just let me love you."

"I can't let you do that Cas. I'm leaving, I may not see you again."

"So?"

"What do you mean so? We may never talk again! Are you saying that in fifty years, you'll still love me?"

"No, but if I do, it might be with or without seeing you for fifty years."

"Goddammit, Cas. I don't understand you."

"I understand." Cas was smiling faintly, and Dean just lied back down on his bed, groaning and putting his arms behind his head, looking to the ceiling. He couldn't do anything. Cas loved him, he knew he felt strongly towards Cas, but what was he to do about it? He was leaving, he probably wasn't ever coming back. They sat for a few hours, not saying anything, not moving from their positions until people were starting to leave, and Cas needed help down the stairs. Dean offered it, and helped him down, seeing him out. Cas's hand only lingered on his arm a second before he was turning to walk to the car. Dean cursed at himself and went after him, turning him around and kissing him. Relief seemed to flood through both of them as Cas relaxed in his hands, and Dean knew this was something they had both needed. Dean's hands helped support Cas as his crutches fell to the ground, and he pulled away to see a smile on Cas's face. 

"Je t'aime. Je vais vous voir."

"Whatever. Get home and rest." Dean kissed him again and helped him to the car, getting his crutches to him before he was off with his siblings and cousins back to his house. He just stayed there, watching until Benny was walking up behind him. 

"So, I guess that was Cas?"

"Yeah, that was Cas."

* * *

The airport was packed, and Dean almost just wanted to stay there rather than board a plane. He had his phone in his hand and it buzzed softly as they waited in line to get on the plane. He unlocked and saw that it was from Cas. 

**Cas:** I love you, have a safe trip. 

Dean smiled, then bit his lip. He was about to leave France, he was about to leave Cas most likely forever, but he couldn't do it. Dean turned his phone off without replying, then gave his phone to John, who told him it was about time. He boarded the plane and sighed. They were going back to Kansas, to his home, and Dean was pretty sure he'd never be the same, though who could honestly say they stayed the same after meeting the love of their life?


	18. Epilogue

The day's work was almost done, and Dean was just working on fixing up an old Ford Mustang, something he thought shouldn't even be on the road in it's condition, but it wasn't his job to tell the driver that, it was his job to fix the momentary. He paused for a drink of water, and sighed, only for the secretary of the auto shop to walk by the door, a clipboard in her hand.

  
"Dean, you've got a delivery."

  
"Just put it by the locker room," Dean smiled towards her, and she nodded, though a bit upset about it, as if something were off by the delivery. Dean finished the Mustang, and making sure that nothing else had to be finished by today, he went by the locker room, showering and changing into clean clothes before he saw what was waiting for him.

  
It was a clear clean vase, not even a foot tall, a few flowers waiting patiently for him, a card next to the vase. the card had beautiful script on it, reading: "Je t'aime". Under that was just the initials C.M. Dean stepped back, looking at the flowers again before taking the vase in his hands and sitting back down on the bench between lockers. The vase had a few Forget-Me-Nots and red roses, and Dean knew what they meant, even after all this time. He was up from the bench in a hurry to see if the secretary was still there.

  
"Hey, who delivered this?"

  
"Some man. He was wearing a long overcoat, and he seemed disappointed that you couldn't get the flowers yourself." She was confused about the situation, and Dean knew she would be. He only hoped he could still catch up to him and make up for all the lost time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this, and for putting up with my sporadic updates. I know in my questions video I had planned for this to not have a such happy ending, but I couldn't end it sad. There still will be a sequel, so keep checking back on my tumblr for updates! My url is andcastiel, and again, thank you so much for reading this!


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